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t 


HO  USE -PAINTING. 


HOW  SHALL  WE  PAINT  OUR  HOUSES  ? 


A  POPULAR  TREATISE 


ON  THE  ART  OF 

HOUSE -PAINTING : 


PLAIN  AND  DECORATIVE. 


SHOWING  THE  NATURE,  COMPOSITION  AND  MODE  OF  PRODUCTION 
OF  PAINTS  AND  PAINTERS’  COLORS,  AND  THEIR  PROPER 
AND  HARMONIOUS  COMBINATION  AND 
ARRANGEMENT. 


BY 

JOHN  W.  MASURY. 


NEW  YORK: 

D.  APPLETON  &  CO.,  90,  92  &  94  GRAND  STREET. 
1808. 


CANCELLED 

FROM 

<ER  LIBRARY 


2  6  1984! 


OoN'S 

rr 

WHS 

105825 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1868,  by 
JOHN  W.  HA  STIR Y, 

In  the  Clerk’s  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for 
the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


ft 

&V 

riAv- 


THE  GETTY  CENTER 
LIBRARY 


CONTENTS. 


Introductory, 

CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE. 

. 9 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Art  of  House-Painting, . 1<7 

CHAPTER  in. 

Paints  and  Colors,  ••.....  25 

CHAPTER  IV. 

True  Economy  in  the  Use  of  Paints,  ...  29 


Tin  Roofs,  . 

CHAPTER  V 

. 34 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Chemistry  in  the  Production  of  Paints,  ...  38 


VI 


CONTENTS, 


CHAPTER  YII. 

PAGE. 

Preparation  of  Colors, . 46 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

White  Pigments, . 49 

CHAPTER  IX. 

White  Lead,  its  Mode  of  Production,  etc.,  ...  56 

CHAPTER  X. 

White  Oxide  of  Zinc,  . . 66 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Theory  of  Color, . *70 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Color-Blindness, . 78 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Black  Pigments, . 85 

CHAPTER  XIY. 

Green  Pigments, . 91 

CHAPTER  XY. 

Blue  Pigments,  - . 98 


CONTENTS.  yii 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

PAGE. 

Red  Pigments, . . 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Yellows, . . 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Brown  Pigments, . 215 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Whiting  and  Paris  White, . . 

CHAPTER  XX. 

011s)  •■•■•....  123 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

The  Action  of  Linseed-Oil  upon  Paints,  .  .  .  134 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Varnishes, . . 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Preparation  of  Work  for  Painting,  .  .  .  .149 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Decorative  House-Painting, . 258 


vm 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

PAGE. 

Harmony  and  Discord  of  Colors, . 170 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Consumption  of  Paint  in  the  United  States,  .  .  191 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Weight  of  Paint  and  Measure  of  Oil  required  to  cover 
a  given  number  of  superficial  feet  of  Wood  or 
Brick, . 198 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 


“  Of  making  many  kooks  there  is  no  end.” — Eccles.  xii.,  12. 

In  the  multitude  of  hooks  treating  of  every 
conceivable  subject  and  matter — serious  and 
comic ;  religious  and  secular ;  arts,  commerce, 
and  philosophy ;  architecture,  farming,  land¬ 
scape  gardening,  politics,  law,  inventions,  dis¬ 
coveries,  etc.,  etc. — which  have  issued  from 
the  prolific  press  of  America  during  the  last 
fifty  years,  one  would  naturally  conclude  that 
no  stone  had  been  left  unturned,  no  field 
ungleaned,  no  subject  available  either  for 
profit  or  pleasure,  undisposed  of.  With 
multiplied,  facilities  for  publishing  and  ad¬ 
vertising,  authors  have  increased,  and  all 
the  realms  of  space  and  thought,  of  the 
past  and  the  future,  the  actual  and  the  ideal, 
heaven  and  earth,  and  “  the  third  estate,” 


10 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


have  been  ransacked  for  topics  on  wliich,  or 
about  which,  “  to  write  a  book.”  The  boast 
of  Glendower,  that  he  could  “  call  spirits  from 
the  vasty  deep,”  has  been  more  than  realized 
by  our  modem  rappers,  and  communications 
by  spiritual  telegraph  from  the  shades  of  the 
“ great  departed”  may  be  had  for  a  considera¬ 
tion.  The  present  abiding-place  of  those  gone 
before  has  been  visited,  and  the  “secrets  of 
the  prison-house” — revealed  in  book  form — 
may  be  purchased  for  a  trifle. 

There  is,  however,  one  subject  at  least 
which  has  not,  so  far,  drawn  to  itself  the  at¬ 
tention  of  the  book-makers,  or  which  has  not 
been  considered  of  sufficient  importance  to 
justify  the  outlay  of  time  and  money  which 
its  publication  must  of  necessity  involve.  Yet 
it  is  one  which  comes  home  to  us  all,  and  on 
which,  in  no  small  degree,  depend  our  com¬ 
fort,  our  pleasure,  and  our  health.  The  art 
of  House-P ainting,  by  itself ,  has  not,  to  the 
best  knowledge  and  belief  of  the  writer,  been 
made  the  subject  of  a  book ;  nor  is  the  task 


INTRODUCTORY. 


11 


begun  now  with  any  expectation  of  pecuniary 
reward,  but  simply  as  a  labor  of  love,  in  the 
hope  that  some  may  find  instruction  in  its 
pages,  and  that  all  who  shall  honor  the  writer 
by  its  perusal,  may  be  led  to  a  better  appre¬ 
ciation  of  the  importance  of  the  subject. 

If  house-painting  consisted  of  merely 
covering  the  wood-work  of  a  dwelling  with 
one  or  more  coats  of  white  paint,  to  speak  of 
it  as  a  fine  art,  would  hardly  be  justifiable ; 
but  so  far  is  such  from  being  the  case,  that  to 
conduct  successfully  the  business  of  painting 
in  our  cities  and  larger  towns,  requires  the 
exercise  of  those  faculties  which,  in  general 
acceptation,  are  supposed  to  distinguish  the 
artist  from  the  mechanic.  An  eye  prompt  by 
nature  and  education  to  distinguish  the  nice 
gradations  of  colors  and  tints — and  the  faculty 
so  to  arrange  and  dispose  them  as  shall  best 
harmonize  them  with  each  other,  and  with 
the  surroundings — are  indispensable  requisites 
in  the  house-painter  of  the  present  day. 

Happily,  the  day  of  dead  whites  for  the 


12 


nOESE-PAESTTEsTG. 


interiors  of  onr  dwellings  lias  passed  by — let 
ns  hope,  not  to  return.  It  was  a  kind  of  Puri¬ 
tanism  in  painting,  for  which  there  was  no 
warrant  in  Nature,  which,  in  such  matters, 
should  he  our  teacher  and  guide.  If  we  go 
to  her  humbly,  as  little  children,  for  instruc¬ 
tion,  she  will  point  us  to  the  vaulted  arch 
above,  frescoed  by  day  with  a  thousand  shapes 
and  hues  of  beauty  and  loveliness,  and  by 
night  with  myriads  of  stars  ;  to  the  cool  gray 
tints  of  the  morning  twilight,  and  the  gorgeous 
bhazonings  of  the  summer  sunset.  She  will 
show  us  a  landscape  whereon,  with  lavish 
hand,  she  has  painted  forms  of  beauty  of  every 
color,  and  tint,  and  hue,  and  shade,  and  pen¬ 
cilled  with  exquisite  touches  the  tiniest  leaf. 
But  the  subject  must  not  be  considered  only 
in  its  aesthetic  aspect,  not  alone  as  adding 
beauty  and  comeliness  to  our  homes,  but  in  its 
economical  aspect,  as  most  important  in  pre¬ 
serving  wood  from  the  action  of  the  weather, 
in  excluding  dampness,  and  arresting  mouldi¬ 
ness  and  decay.  It  is,  too,  highly  promotive 


INTKODU  CTOE  Y. 


13 


of  that  “  cleanliness  which  is  nest  to  godli¬ 
ness,”  and  affords  the  "best  outward  sign  of  the 
advance  of  a  people  in  the  path  of  civiliza¬ 
tion  :  for  just  in  proportion  as  the  houses, 
fences,  and  outbuildings  of  a  community,  are 
painted  or  neglected,  will  be  the  advance  of 
that  people  in  wealth,  literature,  home-com¬ 
forts,  in  short,  all  the  consequences  and  refin¬ 
ing  influences  of  a  high  civilization.  That 
this  is  true,  of  our  own  country  at  least,  ap¬ 
peal  is  made  to  those  who  have  travelled 
much,  and  have  thereby  acquired  the  expe¬ 
rience  necessary  to  the  forming  of  a  correct 
conclusion. 

Indeed,  one  feels  as  he  leaves  behind  him 
the  freshly-painted  houses  and  lattice-fences 
of  the  older  and  more  thrifty  portions  of  our 
land,  and  finds  himself  surrounded  by  the 
evidences  of  a  ruder  cultivation,  that  this  con¬ 
dition  is  owing  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  to 
the  absence  of  the  house-painter  and  his  stocl-c 
of  paints. 

A  knowledge  of  the  materials  employed 


14 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


in  the  prosecution  of  any  trade,  profession,  or 
calling,  their  source,  origin,  nature,  effects, 
and  properties,  and  the  mode  and  manner  in 
which  they  are  influenced  by  the  invisible 
forces  of  Nature,  ever  active  in  the  great  law 
of  change,  would  seem  to  be  a  necessary  con¬ 
comitant  of  success. 

The  materials  used  by  the  painter  and 
colorist,  are  more  directly  the  result  of  chemi¬ 
cal  research,  and  discovery,  than  are  those  of 
other  trades  and  callings  ;  and  no  amount  of 
observation  and  study,  without  the  assistance 
of  written  explanations,  will  give  the  clew  to 
their  composition  and  mode  of  production. 
The  wood  which  the  carpenter  fashions  into 
shapes  of  utility  and  beauty,  bears  in  its  grain 
the  story  of  its  growth.  The  nails  which  he 
uses  are  familiar  as  household  words,  and  of 
themselves  suggest  the  mechanical  force  which 
fashioned  them.  But  the  materials  which  re¬ 
flect  to  the  eye  the  thousand  tints  and  colors 
which  the  painter  disposes  with  cunning  hand, 
give  no  sign  of  the  secret  of  their  origin. 


INTRODUCTORY. 


15 


Tliey  may  be  simple  or  compound  substances 
wrought  out  in  Nature’s  vast  laboratory,  or 
the  result  of  the  highest  scientific  skill. 

The  aim  of  the  writer  has  been  to  give,  in 
as  brief  a  form  as  possible,  the  mode  of  opera¬ 
tion  in  the  production  of  the  factitious  pig¬ 
ments  used  in  house-painting,  and  to  explain 
the  origin  and  properties  of  those  which  are 
of  Nature’s  own  production. 

There  is  nothing  in  domestic  or  out-door 
life  so  common — so  constantly  before  our 
eyes — as  painted  surfaces  ;  yet,  outside  the 
ranks  of  those  who  profess  the  art  of  painting, 
there  prevails  a  general  ignorance  of  the  na¬ 
ture  and  composition  of  paints,  and  of  the 
proper  and  economical  use  of  the  same. 

Owing  to  what  the  writer  must  call  a  de¬ 
fect  in  our  system  of  education,  not  only  in 
our  common  schools,  hut  in  the  higher  institu¬ 
tions  of  learning,  no  effort  is  made  to  educate 
the  perceptive  faculties  in  the  discrimination 
of  colors,  or  in  their  harmonious  combination 
and  arrangement.  Such  teaching  is  certainly 


16 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


worthy  the  attention  of  those  to  whom  we 
commit  the  instruction  of  our  children,  and 
the  neglect  of  it  is  a  national  misfortune. 

Hoping  to  create  an  interest  in  this  im¬ 
portant  subject,  the  writer  is  induced  to  offer 
this  little  hook  to  the  public,  and  would 
modestly  commend  it  not  only  to  the  trade, 
but  also  to  the  general  reader,  with  the  belief 
that  there  are  but  few  who  may  not  find 
some  instruction  in  its  pages. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE  AKT  OF  HOUSE-PAINTING. 

When  Christian  civilization  summons  her 
recruits  and  sets  out  on  the  “march  of  em¬ 
pire  ”  toward  the  setting  sun,  she  has  no  wel¬ 
come  place  in  her  ranks  for  the  painter. 
Foremost  in  the  van  march  the  subduing 
forces,  the  hardy  earth-worker,  the  woodman 
with  Ins  axe,  and  side  by  side  with  them  the 
artificer  in  iron,  the  great  and  crowning  glory 
of  all ;  indeed,  without  him  the  first  step  can¬ 
not  be  taken,  for  the  hammer  of  Tubal  Cain 
must  give  the  note  of  busy  preparation. 
When  the  sanctity  of  Eden  was  violated,  and 
the  edict  went  forth,  “  In  the  sweat  of  thy 
face  shalt  thou  eat  bread,”  Tubal  Cain,  the 
instructor,  appeared  first  among  the  workers, 
and  that  place  he  has  since,  and  must  ever, 


18 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


maintain.  The  hammer  and  good  right  arm 
of  Tubal  must  he  most  honored  among  the 
emblems  which  teach  the  story  of  obedience 
to  that  command,  to  “  replenish  and  subdue 
the  earth.”  But  for  him  the  forests  would 
bar  the  advancing  hosts,  and  the  earth  refuse 
her  increase.  bTor  is  the  painter  found  among 
the  camp-followers  of  the  advancing  army, 
but  he  comes  when  peace  and  plenty  reign, 
and  abundant  harvests  give  promise  of  leisure 
for  the  cultivation  of  that  love  of  the  beautiful 
in  art  for  which  the  hand  of  rude  necessity 
had  no  welcome. 

The  business  of  house-painting  has  so  out¬ 
grown  its  former  insignificant  proportions, 
that  its  past  and  present  features  have  almost 
lost  their  resemblance.  To-day,  more  money 
is  expended  in  the  painting  of  a  single  edifice 
than  would  have  sufficed  to  paint  every  house 
in  a  respectable-sized  town  thirty  years  ago ; 
and  the  amount  of  capital,  skill  and  intelli¬ 
gence  now  required  to  conduct  the  business 
successfully  in  the  cities  and  large  towns,  was 


THE  AKT  OF  HOUSE-PAINTING. 


19 


not  dreamed  of  at  that  time.  The  services  of 
the  painter  are  better  acknowledged  and  ap¬ 
preciated.  and  his  labor  more  adequately  re¬ 
warded,  than  formerly.  The  business  tact, 
knoAvledge,  skill  and  capital  of  employers,  in 
many  cases,  meet  with  ample  but  deserved 
remuneration,  for  the  business  seems  to  be 
attended  with  more  than  its  fair  share  of  the 
vexations  and  annoyances  which,  to  a  greater 
or  less  degree,  appertain  to  all  the  various 
branches  of  the  mechanic  arts. 

One  of  the  most  serious  difficulties  with 
which  the  employing  painter  contends  is  that 
of  obtaining  the  services  of  skilful,  reliable 
workmen,  during  what  is  called  the  busy 
seasons. 

This  grows  out  of  the  fact,  partly,  that  a 
large  proportion  of  repainting,  interiors  par¬ 
ticularly,  is  crowded  into  the  brief  season  of 
spring,  and  partly  from  the  idea  that  once 
generally  prevailed,  and  which  unfortunately 
obtains  now  to  some  extent,  that  anybody  can 
do  plain  painting,  and  that  the  art  of  mixing 


20 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


and  laying  on  of  colors  requires  less  skill,  and 
is  more  easily  acquired,  than  skill  and  dex¬ 
terity  in  other  trades. 

During  this  brief  busy  season,  the  em¬ 
ployer,  under  the  pressure  of  necessity,  avails 
himself  of  such  workmen  as  present  themselves ; 
some  of  them,  perhaps,  fresh  from  the  lap- 
stone  and  the  last,  who  have  stepped  from  the 
shoemaker’s  bench  to  the  paint-brush,  as  if  the 
same  were  a  natural  and  proper  transition. 

The  elements,  too,  conspire  against  the 
painter  :  a  sudden  shower  will  sometimes  pro¬ 
duce  a  most  undesirable  commingling  of  tints, 
blending  black,  white  and  gray  in  streaky 
confusion.  The  dust-plague,  too,  is  ofttimes  a 
double  plague  to  him.  A  change  of  tem¬ 
perature  may  check  the  drying  disposition  of 
his  pigments,  for  the  property  of  absorbing 
oxygen,  which  the  oil  possesses  at  ordinary 
temperatures,  seems  to  be  wanting  under  cer¬ 
tain  atmospheric  conditions. 

Clamorous  housekeepers  exact  promises 
which  are  made  for  the  sake  of  peace,  too 


THE  ART  OF  HOUSE-PAINTING. 


21 


often,  alas !  only  to  be  broken.  The  disor¬ 
dered  condition  of  the  bousebold,  extended  far 
beyond  the  stipulated  time,  is  added  to  his 
unavoidable  sins  of  omission,  and  many  a 
brave  “  boss  ”  has  beaten  a  hasty  and  inglorious 
retreat,  rather  than  meet  the  unmerited  rebuke 
of  an  angry  and  disappointed  housekeeper. 
But  there  is  one  drop  of  comfort  which  the 
painter  shares  not  in  common  with  other 
craftsmen.  His  coming  always  gives  satisfac¬ 
tion  and  meets  a  ready  welcome,  and  the  doors 
close  behind  him,  when  his  work  is  completed, 
with  intensified  delight. 

Formerly,  a  slab  and  rnuller  were  indis¬ 
pensable  articles  in  the  furniture  of  the  paint- 
shop.  These  have  been  in  a  great  measure 
superseded  by  the  iron  paint-mill,  and  the 
latter  in  some  degree  by  the  introduction  of 
ground  colors  put  up  in  tin  boxes  (commonly 
called  cans)  of  convenient  size.  These  boxes, 
after  the  manner  of  fruit-cans,  are  sealed  by 
soldering  a  patch  or  disk  of  tin  over  the  open¬ 
ing  through  which  the  contents  were  intro- 


22 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


duced,  and  being  hermetically  closed,  the  paint 
remains  unchanged  until  such  time  as  it  may 
be  wanted  for  use. 

The  objection,  formerly,  to  this  mode  of 
putting  up  colors,  was  the  difficulty  of  opening 
the  cans,  particularly  the  smaller  ones.  This 
has,  however,  been  entirely  removed,  by  an 
invention  which  is  patented,  and  which  most 
effectually  overcomes  the  difficulty  before 
mentioned.  It  consists  simply,  in  making  one 
end  of  the  can  of  thinner  metal  than  the  body 
and  bulk  of  the  same,  so  that  the  said  end  may 
be  cut  out  with  a  penknife.  To  get  at  the 
contents  requires  but  an  instant  of  time,  and 
may  be  effected  without  waste  of  material  or 
even  soiling  the  lingers. 

For  interiors'  of  the  best  class  of  houses 
and  public  buildings,  what  is  called  fresco¬ 
painting  is  now  the  fashion.  This  is,  proper¬ 
ly,  only  an  imitation  of  fresco-painting,  which 
term,  in  its  proper  sense,  signifies  a  method 
of  ornamenting  the  walls  and  ceilings  of 
buildings  with  colors  ground  in  water,  and 


THE  ART  OF  HOUSE-PAINTIMG. 


23 


mixed  with  lime  and  applied  to  freshly-laid 
plaster. 

True  fresco-painting  was  practised  by  the 
ancient  Greeks,  and  by  other  nations  of  an¬ 
tiquity  ;  and  all  who  have  travelled  in  Italy 
are  familiar  with  the  magnificent  frescoes 
which  adorn  the  walls  and  ceilings  of  so  many 
churches,  convents,  and  palaces  there.  After 
the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  this 
art  rapidly  deteriorated.  The  present  century 
has,  however,  witnessed  its  revival,  and  it  is 
now  practised  to  a  considerable  extent,  par¬ 
ticularly  in  Germany. 

With  us,  what  is  called  fresco-painting 
is  simply  the  painting  of  walls  and  ceilings 
either  in  oil  or  water  colors,  and  ornamenting 
the  same  with  panels,  mouldings,  flowers,  or 
other  designs.  The  woodwork  in  so-called 
frescoed  rooms,  is  painted  in  what  are  called 
parti-colors,  neutral  tints  generally,  to  har¬ 
monize  with  the  colors  on  the  walls  and  ceil¬ 
ings.  This  style  of  interior  decoration  affords 
a  fine  field  for  the  display  of  taste  and  true 


24 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


artistic  skill;  consequently,  house-painting 
now-a-days  comprehends  something  more  than 
the  mere  mechanical  operation  of  covering 
the  woodwork  of  a  house  with  a  coat  of  plain 
white  or  lead-colored  paint. 


CHAPTER  III. 


PAINTS  AND  COLORS. 

The  materials  from  which  color  is  ex¬ 
tracted  are  obtained  from  all  sources.  Among 
mineral  colors,  the  earths  seem  to  claim  the 
first  notice,  from  their  having  been  naturally 
the  first  substances  employed  in  painting,  as 
well  as  from  their  known  durability.  It 
would  seem  that  these  colors  must  of  necessity 
be  permanent ;  because,  had  they  been  liable 
to  change,  such  change  must  have  taken  place 
during  the  ages  that  they  remained  unappro¬ 
priated  to  the  use  of  man.  These  colors, 
when  carefully  purified,  are  well  suited  for 
painting,  where  no  very  vivid  tints  are  re¬ 
quired,  being  generally  dull  (although  very 
useful)  yellows  and  reds.  In  other  respects, 
they  are  excelled  by  mineral  colors  prepared 

by  chemical  agency.  In  brown  tints,  as 
-2 


26 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


Tan  dyke  Brown,  Cologne  earth,  Umbers, 
Siennas,  etc.,  however,  the  native  earths  sur¬ 
pass  the  artificial  preparations. 

Minute  specimens  of  brilliant  colors  fre¬ 
quently  occur  among  minerals,  though  gen¬ 
erally  found  in  small  particles,  embedded  in 
large  masses  of  stony  material,  so  that  their 
extraction,  with  a  view  to  their  use  In  paint¬ 
ing,  must  he  considered  impracticable.  They 
have,  however,  suggested  to  the  chemist  the 
idea  of  combining  the  same  elements  for  the 
artificial  production  of  similar  results. 

Native  cinnabar,  no  doubt,  suggested  the 
idea  of  combining  sulphur  with  quicksilver  to 
produce  vermilion,  and  hut  for  the  analysis  of 
true  ultra-marine,  the  artificial  substitute 
would  probably  have  remained  undiscovered. 

There  is,  really,  no  metal  that  does  not 
yield  pigments  of  some  sort.  Mercury  pro¬ 
duces  Vermilion.  Venetian  Bed ,  Mars  Orange 
and  Yellow ,  and  Indian  Red ,  are  produced 
from  Iron.  Copper  gives  us  Emerald  Green 
and  Verdigris.  Chromium  affords  Oxide  of 


PAINTS  AND  COLOES. 


27 


Chromium  and  Chrome  Yellow.  Kings’  Yel¬ 
low  and  Orpiment  are  made  from  Aksenic. 
Cobalt  Blue  and  Smalt,  from  tlie  metal  Co¬ 
balt.  Zinc  supplies  Zinc  White.  Lead  sup¬ 
plies  White  Lead ,  Krems  White ,  FlaLe  White, 
China  White ,  Patent  Yellow,  Red  Lead,  and 
Orange  Mineral,  and  from  the  newly-discov¬ 
ered  metals,  such  as  Cadmium,  Ueanium,  Mol¬ 
ybdenum,  etc.,  colors  of  equal  beauty  are  pro¬ 
curable. 

Among  the  colors  extracted  from  animal 
matter,  those  distinguished  by  the  brilliant 
hues  imparted  through  the  agency  of  prussic 
acid  are  most  remarkable.  This  peculiar 
acid  is  produced  by  the  calcination  of  dried 
blood  and  the  hoofs  and  horny  parts  of  ani¬ 
mals,  and  in  conjunction  with  iron,  it  affords 
those  beautiful  and  powerful  blues  known  as 
Prussian  and  Antwerp  Blue. 

Gall  Stone  and  Lndian  Yellow  are  both 
the  products  of  animal  economy,  and  the  co¬ 
chineal  insect,  by  a  particular  treatment  and 
great  delicacy  in  manipulation,  is  made  to 


28 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


yield  tlie  most  powerful  and  beautiful  crimson 
known,  viz.,  tlie  Carmine  and  Crimson  Lakes. 
Scarlet  and  Purple  Lakes  are  also  made  from 
the  same  by  varying  the  mode  of  manufacture. 

Vegetable  Colors ,  from  the  want  of  perma¬ 
nency,  are  mostly  rejected  by  the  color-maker. 
Among  the  few  that  are  retained,  the  Madder- 
root  holds  the  most  conspicuous  place.  The 
Indigo-plant  and  Gamboge  also  afford  useful 
colors  in  the  line  arts.  Among  the  vegetable 
colors  we  must  class  Frankfort  Black  and 
that  most  important  pigment  Lamp  Black. 

From  this  brief  review,  it  would  seem  that 
all  the  kingdoms  of  the  material  world,  and 
all  quarters  of  the  globe,  are  laid  under  con¬ 
tribution  to  supply  to  the  painter  his  stock  of 
colors. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


TRUE  ECONOMY  IN  TIIE  USE  OF  PAINTS. 

The  fact  cannot  be  too  forcibly  impressed 
on  the  minds  of  all  who  may  be  engaged,  in 
the  business  of  painting,  that  good  results  can 
be  produced  only  by  the  use  of  good  materials. 
The  best  are  always  the  cheapest !  The  main 
expense  in  painting  is  not  in  the  cost  of  the 
paint,  but  in  that  of  labor  and  oil,  and  it  re¬ 
quires  more  labor  to  apply  the  worst  than  to 
apply  the  best  paint  that  can  be  obtained. 
The  cheapening  of  paints,  by  the  admixture 
of  adulterating  materials,  is  carried  on  to  the 
last  degree,  probably  to  a  greater  extent  than 
in  any  other  article  of  general  use  and  con¬ 
sumption. 

The  experienced  eye  can  with  difficulty 
detect  the  difference  between  colors  which  are 


30 


nOUSE-PAINTINGr. 


pure  and  those  which  are  highly  adulterated, 
the  only  test  being  actual  use  and  application. 
The  sate  way,  therefore,  is  to  purchase  such 
colors  only  as  hear  the  name  of  some  well- 
known  and  responsible  manufacturer. 

The  writer  would  not,  however,  he  under¬ 
stood  as  advising  the  use  of  the  best  white 
lead  or  zinc,  for  all  kinds  of  painting  ;  there 
are  paints  much  more  economical  because 
more  durable  for  outside  work  than  these. 
The  Ochres,  or  earth-paints  are,  for  many 
purposes,  the  best  and  cheapest.  Paints  are 
durable  mainly  because  of  the  water-proof 
quality  of  the  oil  in  which  they  are  used. 
Some  paints,  the  Ochres  for  instance,  are  in¬ 
ert  substances,  and  do  not,  in  any  degree, 
change  the  nature  of  the  oil ;  while  others,  such 
as  white  lead,  affect  the  oil  chemically,  and 
impair,  in  a  measure,  its  tenacity,  its  property 
of  resisting  the  action  of  water  and  the  sun’s 
rays. 

Much  of  outside  wood-work  is  painted 
simply  to  preserve  it  from  the  action  of  the 


ECONOMY  IN  THE  USE  OF  PAINTS. 


31 


weather,  color  and  appearance  being  in  suck 
cases  unimportant  considerations.  Hence,  it 
follows,  that  whatever  material  will  most  eco¬ 
nomically  produce  tliis  result,  is  the  most  de¬ 
sirable,  regardless  of  the  name  it  may  bear. 

The  natural  deposits  of  Ochres  (colored 
earths)  belong,  to  what  is  known  in  geologic 
nomenclature,  as  the  Jurassic  period. 

The  time  when  these  deposits  occurred  is 
a  matter  of  pure  speculation,  and  may  as  well 
be  supposed  to  have  taken  place  five  hundred 
thousand  years  ago,  as  at  any  period  more  or 
less  remote.  As  has  been  before  remarked, 
had  these  materials  been  liable  to  change,  it  is 
only  reasonable  to  suppose  that  such  change 
would  have  occurred  during  the  ages  that  they 
remained  unappropriated  to  the  use  of  man  ; 
experience  teaches  that  they  are  not  subject 
to  those  changes  which  belong  to  most  of 
the  artificial  products  used  in  painting. 

Hence  the  value  of  these  native  pigments. 
Economically  considered,  they  are  undoubt¬ 
edly  the  most  valuable  of  all  the  paints,  where 


32 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


primary  or  prismatic  colors  are  not  absolutely 
required.  The  only  change  they  are  liable 
to,  is  a  change  of  place.  They  may  he,  and 
are  of  course,  wasted  by  the  slow  disintegra¬ 
tion  of  the  coating  which  they  form  with  the 
oil,  hut  in  color  (when  unmixed  with  white) 
they  are  inflexibly  permanent,  and  stand  ex¬ 
posure  to  the  sunlight  without  fading  or  bleach¬ 
ing-  in  the  slightest  degree.  ISTor  are  they 
affected  by  the  action  of  acids  and  gases,  as 
are  most  of  the  artificial  paints. 

blow  that  the  day  of  white  and  light  tints 
is  passing  away,  and  a  better  taste  in  decora¬ 
tive  ornamentation  is  about  to  prevail,  it  be¬ 
comes  all  those  engaged  in  the  business  of 
painting,  to  consider  to  what  extent  these 
natural  pigments  may  be  made  to  take  the 
place  of  the  artificial  compounds,  which  have 
heretofore  been  considered  indispensable,  and 
for  which  it  has  been  supposed  impossible  to 
find  substitutes. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  native 
pigments  are  in  inexhaustible  supply,  that 


ECONOMY  IN  THE  USE  OF  PAINTS. 


33 


tliey  are  of  almost  universal  distribution,  and 
that  they  are  not  known  to  possess  any  value 
excep  t  for  the  p  urp  oses  of  p  ainting.  If  or  are  the 
production  and  preparation  of  them  supposed 
to  affect  the  health  of  the  workmen  engaged 
in  it,  unfavorably.  So  far,  therefore,  as  they 
can  be  substituted  for  those  paints  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  which  lessens  the  stock  of  useful 
metals,  the  use  of  them  adds  directly  to  the 
wealth  of  the  country  and  of  the  world.  Their 
application  is  strongly  recommended  on  the 
ground  of  “  true  economy  in  the  use  of  paints,” 
whenever  they  can  be  made  to  take  the  place 
of  the  more  expensive  metallic  substances. 


CHAPTER  V. 


TEST  HOOFS. 

“A  stitch  in  time  saves  nine”  is  a  some- 
what  trite  saying,  but  nevertheless  well 
worthy  of  consideration ;  and  in  nothing  con¬ 
nected  with  building  has  it  more  significance 
than  in  the  matter  of  Tin  Hoofs. 

For  a  flat  roof,  tin  is,  beyond  question,  the 
most  economical  covering  that  can  be  applied. 
If  not  neglected,  it  is  absolutely  indestructible 
by  external  influences,  and  will  last  a  hundred 
years  in  as  good  condition  as  when  first  laid 
on,  if  kept  well  painted.  Yet  there  are  to¬ 
day,  in  the  city  of  Hew  York,  thousands  of 
roofs  undergoing  tire  process  of  slow  corrosion 
and  decay,  because  of  the  want  of  a  little 
timely  attention.  The  comfort  of  the  house¬ 
hold,  and  safety  of  the  property,  depend  in  a 


TIN  HOOFS. 


35 


great  measure  on  tlie  quality  and  condition  of 
the  roof ;  yet  there  are  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  dollars  wasted  every  year  by  the  most  in¬ 
excusable  negligence  in  this  matter.  Many 
owners  of  valuable  houses  never  visit  the  roofs, 
and  until  admonished  by  the  appearance  of 
stained  ceilings  and  discolored  walls,  pay  no 
attention  to  this  important  subject.  The  re¬ 
newing  of  a  tin  roof  is  attended  with  a  con¬ 
siderable  outlay  of  money,  and  no  small 
amount  of  inconvenience  and  trouble.  A  rain¬ 
storm  during  the  process  may  involve  the  ruin 
of  hundreds  of  dollars’  worth  of  expensive  and 
cherished  household  goods.  To  avoid  this,  in 
many  cases,  some  nostrum- vender  who  adver¬ 
tises  to  “  cure  leaky  roofs  for  a  small  considera¬ 
tion,”  is  allowed  to  cover  the  neglected  house¬ 
top  with  a  coating  of  tar  and  sand,  warranted 
to  remain  tight  for  five  years.  This  tempora¬ 
ry  expedient,  however,  like  most  temporizing, 
proves  a  costly  experiment,  and  time  soon 
shows  the  second  state  of  that  roof  to  be  worse 
than  the  first ;  for  such  neglect  there  is  but 


36 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


one  remedy,  repentance,  a  new  roof-covering, 
and  a  promise  of  better  attention  in  the  future. 
Tin  on  a  house-top  should  be  well  painted 
once  in  four  years. 

For  roofs,  light  cool  colors  are  preferable, 
because  they  reflect  the  warm  rays  of  light 
and  thereby  lessen  the  expansion  and  contrac¬ 
tion  of  the  metal,  and  the  shrinking  of  the 
boards  underneath,  and  so  lessen  the  liability 
of  the  tin  to  crack  in  the  seams.  The  tem¬ 
perature  of  attic  rooms  in  summer  will  be 
materially  lower  if  the  roof  be  painted  with  a 
light  rather  than  with  a  dark  color. 

The  writer  has  learned,  from  long  expe¬ 
rience,  that  the  finest  French  Ochre  is  the 
most  economical  pigment  that  can  be  used  for 
that  purpose.  If,  as  is  sometimes  the  case  in 
country-houses,  where  the  roof  is  a  conspicu¬ 
ous  object  in  the  architecture  of  the  building, 
a  dark  color  be  indispensable,  the  use  of  pure 
Venetian  Fed,  darkened  with  Lamp  Black,  is 
recommended  as  the  most  durable  and  eco¬ 
nomical.  If,  by  some  process,  the  oil  used  in 


TEST  HOOFS. 


37 


roof-painting  could  be  prevented  from  becom¬ 
ing  bard  and  brittle,  it  would  be  a  great  gain. 

The  poorest  oil-paint,  however,  is  better 
than  neglect;  and  the  best  economy  consists 
in  keeping  tin  entirely  and  thoroughly  pro¬ 
tected  from  the  corroding  influence  of  damp¬ 
ness.  Old  paint  which  has  become  “  fatty  ” 
from  exposure  to  the  atmosphere,  is  better 
than  new  for  roof-painting.  Not  a  drop  of 
turpentine  should  be  used  for  such  work. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

CHEMISTRY  IN  THE  PRODUCTION  OF  PAINTS. 

To  an  intelligent  comprehension  of  the 
nature  and  properties  of  the  materials  used  in 
painting,  the  complex  substances  of  which 
most  of  them  are  composed,  of  the  changes 
which  they  undergo  when  exposed  to  the  in¬ 
fluence  of  certain  gases,  of  the  sun’s  rays,  of 
atmospheric  action,  etc.,  a  knowledge,  to  a 
greater  or  less  degree  of  the  science  of  chem¬ 
istry  would  seem  to  he  indispensable. 

Chemistry  may  be  defined  as  that  science 
which  seeks  a  rational  explanation  of  all  the 
operations  of  the  material  world.  This  it 
would  accomplish  by  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  forces  of  elementary  substances,  of  the 
laws  which  govern  these  elements  when  they 
are  permitted  to  enter  into  combination — by 


CHEMISTRY — PRODUCTION  OF  PAINTS. 


39 


reducing  all  natural  compounds  to  their  ulti¬ 
mate  constituents— by  recombining  them  to 
ascertain  their  mutual  relations — and  to  dis¬ 
cover  all  the  possible  combinations  and  forms 
of  matter  which  have  not  been  worked  out  in 
Nature’s  laboratory. 

The  discoveries  of  modern  chemists,  suffi¬ 
cient  already  to  bewilder  ordinary  minds,  are 
— the  professors  of  that  noble  science  assure 
us — as  nothing  to  the  revelations  which  a  later 
day  shall  bring  forth.  If,  to-day,  as  its  pro¬ 
fessors  claim,  the  science  be  in  its  infancy, 
what  may  we  not  anticipate  from  its  maturity? 

The  boast  of  Fairy  Puck,  to  “put  a  gir¬ 
dle  round  about  the  earth  in  forty  minutes,” 
is  on  the  threshold  of  realization.  The  lamp 
of  Aladdin  is  no  longer,  only  a  fiction  to 
relieve  the  monotony  of  “Arabian  Nights.” 
The  Genius,  locked  up  in  the  casket  which 
the  fisherman  drew  out  of  the  depths  of  the 
sea,  is  to-day  in  the  control  of  the  chemist, 
and  is  set  free  or  imprisoned  at  his  will. 
The  “  seven-league  boots  ”  may  be  put  away 


40 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


in  tlie  lumber-room,  they  have  already  ceased 
to  excite  the  wonder  of  listening  childhood, 
and  dust  and  ashes  have  caused  transforma¬ 
tions  a  thousand  times  more  wonderful  than 
the  coach  and  horses  and  fine  dresses  of  Cin¬ 
derella. 

IIow  little  do  we  realize  the  fact,  which 
chemical  discovery  has  revealed  to  us,  that 
there  is  within  us,  and  around  us,  an  element 
of  the  presence  of  which  we  are  not  conscious ; 
a  substance  so  unsubstantial,  that  its  existence 
even  was  not  known  until  the  eighteenth  cen- 
fury! — without  palpable  form,  or  smell,  or 
taste,  but  which,  nevertheless,  plays  the  most 
important  part  among  the  forces  which  control 
our  world. 

This  spirit,  is  the  breath  of  our  nostrils  and 
the  life  of  our  blood,  yet  a  consuming  fire 
which  sooner  or  later  will  cause  us  to  “  wither 
as  the  grass,  and  fade  as  the  flower.”  ISTor  will 
it  leave  us  at  the  portal  of  the  tomb.  There 
it  will  enter  with  us,  and  continue  the  work 
which  it  commenced  on  this  side  the  dark  val- 


CHEMISTRY — PRODUCTION  OF  PAINTS.  41 


ley,  until  we  become  in  reality  the  dust  of 
which  we  were  created. 

The  word  gas,  or  ghost,  was,  in  the  days 
of  alchemy,  applied  to  certain  substances,  from 
their  supposed  connection  with  the  spirit- 
world. 

The  discovery  of  oxygen  gas,  in  England, 
by  Doctor  Priestley,  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  was  one  of  the  most  im¬ 
portant  discoveries,  so  far  as  regards  the  ma¬ 
terial  well-being  of  mankind,  that  the  world 
has  ever  witnessed. 

Oxygen  is  a  transparent,  inodorous,  taste¬ 
less,  colorless  substance,  about  one-tenth  heav¬ 
ier  than  the  air,  and  forming  about  one-fifth  of 
its  bulk.  Mixed  with  nitrogen,  it  forms  the 
atmosphere  which  surrounds  us,  and  in  which 
we  move  and  have  our  being.  With  hydro¬ 
gen  it  forms  water,  and  with  carbon,  carbonic 
acid.  This  latter  gas  is  that  substance  which 
gives  to  soda-water  and  other  effervescing 
drinks  the  lively,  pungent  flavor  which  is  so 
much  liked. 


42 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


Hie  scope  of  this  work  does  not  compre¬ 
hend  the  teaching  of  the  science  of  chemistry, 
and  the  only  object  in  introducing  oxygen  is 
the  fact  that,  without  some  conception  of  the 
nature  of  this  wonderful  agent,  in  the  produc¬ 
tion  of  paints,  no  intelligent  idea  of  their  com¬ 
position  and  properties  and  mode  of  produc¬ 
tion  is  possible. 

Oxygen  has  a  wonderful  affinity  for  most 
all  known  substances,  and  particularly  so  for 
the  metals.  So  great  is  the  affinity  in  some 
instances,  that  certain  metals  can  he  preserved 
only  by  immersing  them  in  naphtha,  which 
liquor  contains  no  oxygen. 

Molten  lead  oxidizes  instantly  on  expo¬ 
sure  to  the  atmosphere,  but  the  coating  of 
oxide  serves  to  protect  it  from  any  further  ac¬ 
tion  of  the  gas;  if  this  coating  be  removed, 
however,  another  coating  is  immediately 
formed,  and  this  may  be  kept  up  until  the 
metal  shall  have  lost  its  metallic  character. 
The  most  familiar  example  of  this  operation  is 
the  rusting  of  iron.  This  metal,  on  exposure 


CHEMISTRY — PRODUCTION  OF  PAINTS.  43 


to  the  atmosphere  (particularly  an  atmosphere 
charged  with  much  moisture),  becomes  at  once 
covered  with  a  coating  of  oxide  of  iron.  All 
housekeepers  are  familiar  with  this  substance, 
unpleasantly  so  at  times,  in  the  operations  of 
the  laundry. 

To  the  presence  of  this  oxide,  the  ochres  or 
earth-paints  owe  their  colors — they  being 
simply  earthy  substances,  mainly  silica  ("which 
is  of  itself  more  than  one-half  oxygen  by 
weight) — colored  by  water  impregnated  with 
iron  rust.  Oxygen  with  lead,  in  varying 
proportions,  gives  us  white  lead,  red  lead, 
litharge,  and  with  the  addition  of  chromic 
acid,  chrome  yellow  and  American  vermilion. 
From  oxygen  with  zinc,  we  have  the  beauti¬ 
ful  white  pigment,  oxide  of  zinc.  With  iron 
and  potash,  oxygen  affords  the  beautiful  color 
known  as  Prussian  blue.  From  the  oxides  of 
copper  we  obtain  verdigris,  and  the  brilliant 
pigment  known  as  Paris  green.  With  cobalt, 
We  have  the  fine  blue  of  smalts ;  and  with 
chromium,  the  greens  and  yellows  known  as 


44  HOUSE-PAINTING. 

chrome  colors.  “Yet  this  simple  substance, 
which  makes  up  more  than  one-half  of  the 
ponderable  matter  of  the  earth,  is  without 
color,  taste,  or  smell,  and  the  eye  of  man  has 
never  beheld  it.” 

How  few  realize  the  fact  that  the  white- 
lead  paint  which  beautifies  and  preserves  our 
dwellings,  is  the  well-known  and  familiar 
metal  transformed  to  its  present  unrecogniz¬ 
able  condition  by  the  action  of  oxygen  !  that 
to  this  invisible  agent  we  owe  most  of  the 
colors  and  varied  tints  which,  by  the  never- 
ending  variety  of  their  harmonious  blendings 
and  contrasts,  afford  us  such  exquisite  enjoy¬ 
ment  and  gratification ! 

Nature,  bounteous  in  colors,  proffers  us  in 
the  vaulted  arch  above,  in  the  blue  expanse 
of  waters,  in  the  flowers  which  bloom  along 
the  land,  an  exhaustless  source  of  innocent 
delight  !  Shall  we  churlishly  refuse  the 
proffered  joy,  shut  our  eyes  to  all  the  forms 
of  beauty  spread  out  around  us,  and  tram¬ 
ple,  brute-like,  on  the  flowers  which  spring 


CHEMISTRY - PRODUCTION  OF  PAINTS.  45 


up  in  our  path?  Let  us  rather  accept  and 
admire,  with  hearts  full  of  gratitude  toward 
the  glorious  Giver  of  all  these  good  and  per¬ 
fect  gifts ! 


CHAPTER  VII. 


PREPARATION  OF  COLORS. 

The  art  of  preparing  colors  for  the  use  of 
the  painter,  is  one  which  requires  a  thorough 
practical  knowledge  of  the  nature  and  compo¬ 
sition  of  the  various  pigments,  and  skill  in  the 
selection  of  the  same,  as  well  as  an  entire 
familiarity  with  the  different  degrees  of  fine¬ 
ness  which  the  colors  may  require  to  fit  them 
for  the  purposes  to  which  they  may  he  ap¬ 
plied.  Some  paints  lose  their  brilliancy  and 
beauty  by  too  much  crushing  and  grinding, 
and  become  dull,  pale,  and  comparatively 
worthless,  while  others  require  grinding  to  the 
last  degree  of  fineness,  to  develop  the  color 
which  is  in  them.  Notwithstanding  these 
facts,  which  are  known  to  every  painter  who 
has  been  properly  educated  in  his  profession, 


PEEPAEATION  OF  COLOES. 


47 


the  business  of  preparing  colors  for  his  use  is 
to  a  great  extent  in  the  hands  of  persons  en¬ 
tirely  ignorant  of  the  nature  of  paints,  and 
the  requirements  of  the  painter.  Active  and 
ever-increasing  competition  has  begotten  a 
strife,  not  as  to  who  shall  produce  the  best 
possible  paints,  but  as  to  who  shall  put  upon 
the  market  the  worst  article  which  can  by 
any  stretch  of  fancy  be  called  a  “  ground- 
color.”  This  evil  has,  however,  like  most 
others,  worked  out  (or  is  in  process  of  work¬ 
ing)  its  own  cure.  Experience  is  teaching  the 
lesson,  where  it  has  not  already  been  learned, 
that  “  cheap  paint,”  that  is,  paint  made  to  sell 
at  a  low  figure  by  means  of  extreme  adultera¬ 
tion,  is  “  dear  at  any  price.”  This  rule,  how¬ 
ever,  is  not  of  universal  application,  but  is  in¬ 
tended  to  apply  to  painters  mostly,  who  have 
the  means  and  knowledge  required  to  avoid  the 
waste  of  good  material.  There  are  many  cases 
when  a  small  quantity  of  color  is  required  to 
produce  a  certain  tint,  and  colors  cannot  al¬ 
ways  be  obtained  in  such  small  quantities  as 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


48 

may  be  desired.  In  such  cases,  it  would  be 
advisable  to  buy  a  cheaper  article  and  consume 
it  all,  rather  than  to  buy  the  best,  and  suffer  a 
large  portion  of  it  to  be  wasted.  It  must  be 
borne  in  mind  by  the  painter  that  in  cheapen¬ 
ing  paints  by  the  admixture  of  adulterating 
materials,  the  reduction  must  be  made  wholly 
in  that  portion  of  the  mixture  which  possesses 
the  coloring  property  he  requires.  There  can 
be  no  corresponding  cheapening  of  all  the 
materials.  The  oil,  the  labor,  and  packages, 
cost  as  much  for  the  poorest  as  for  the  best 
colors ;  therefore  a  color  which  sells  at  twenty 
cents  per  pound  may  possess  really  three 
times  as  much  intrinsic  value  as  one  which 
sells  at  one-half  that  price.  There  can  be  no 
better  rule  for  a  painter  to  adopt  than  to  buy 
always  the  lest  colors ,  and  in  packages  as  large 
as  the  requirements  of  his  trade  will  justify, 
with  a  view  to  strict  economy  and  the  pre¬ 
vention  of  waste. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

WHITE  PIGMENTS. 

The  only  white  pigments  used  in  liouse- 
painting  that  are  of  sufficient  importance  to 
notice  in  this  place,  are  the  Carbonate  of  Lead 
(White  Lead)  and  the  White  Oxide  of  Zinc. 
In  the  detailed  description  which  follows,  of 
the  method  of  producing  these  two  most  im¬ 
portant  articles,  the  writer  has  endeavored  to 
avoid,  as  much  as  possible,  the  use  of  techni¬ 
cal  terms,  and  has  confined  himself  to  such 
only  as  shall  set  forth  in  the  clearest  manner 
possible,  to  those  who  may  be  unacquainted 
with  scientific  signs,  the  mode  of  operation. 
The  use  of  white  lead  in  oil-painting  is  of  very 
ancient  origin,  while  the  use  of  white  oxide  of 
zinc  is  comparatively  of  recent  date.  One  of 
these  two,  at  the  present  day,  forms  the  staple 

3 


50 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


of  all  the  neutral  tints  used  by  painters,  and 
enters  more  or  less  into  all  the  shades  of  the 
positive  colors,  such  as  green,  red,  blue,  yel¬ 
low,  etc.  They  are  more  extensively  used  by 
themselves,  that  is,  without  tinting,  than  other 
paints,  and  are  consequently  of  the  first  im¬ 
portance.  The  comparative  value  of  these' 
two  materials,  the  properties  they  possess  to 
resist  the  action  of  the  weather,  and  the  many 
gases  to  which  they  are  under  nearly  all  cir¬ 
cumstances  exposed — and,  most  important  of 
all,  their  merits  or  demerits  in  an  economical 
point  of  view,  open  a  wide  field  of  discussion, 
and  call  into  action  a  vast  amount  of  preju¬ 
dice.  In  entering  this  field,  the  writer  prom¬ 
ises  to  set  forth  as  clearly  and  impartially  as 
possible  what  lie  believes  to  be  the  facts  in 
the  case.  Ilis  views  are  the  result  of  an  ex¬ 
perience  of  more  than  twenty-five  years  in  the 
business  of  preparing  paints  and  colors  for 
painters’  use,  and  he  has  had  unusually  good 
opportunities  of  comparing  the  opinions  of 
painters  from  various  and  widely-separated 


WHITE  PIGMENTS. 


51 


parts  of  the  country,  many  of  them  men  of 
large  experience,  whose  views  are  entitled  to 
much  consideration.  White  lead,  having  had 
for  so  many  years  undisputed  possession  of  the 
field,  looked  very  naturally  upon  any  rival  as 
an  upstart — a  usurper  of  its  before  unques¬ 
tioned  prerogative.  The  large  amount  of 
capital  invested  in  its  production,  its  many 
good  qualities,  the  repeated  failures  to  find  a 
substitute  for  it,  and  its  entire  respectability, 
so  to  speak,  caused  it  to  look  upon  the  humbler 
aspirant  for  public  favor  with  contempt.  That 
time,  however,  has  passed  by ;  and  the  ques¬ 
tion  is  no  longer,  whether  or  not  Zinc  shall 
have  a  share  in  the  public  estimation,  but 
whether  or  not  it  possesses  superior  properties 
as  a  white  pigment  to  the  carbonate  of  lead. 

Keeping  in  view  the  fact  that  painting  is 
done  not  so  much  to  preserve  as  to  beautify 
our  dwellings,  and  to  make  them  cleanly  and 
easy  to  be  kept  clean,  and  that  whiteness  is 
an  indispensable  requisite — as  clear  pure  tints 
cannot  be  produced  without  a  pure  white — the 


52 


nOUSE-PAESTTING. 


ready  conclusion  would  be,  that  any  white 
paint  which  most  readily  and  economically 
realizes  that  result  would  be  adopted  with¬ 
out  question.  That  white  lead  possesses  a 
density,  opacity,  body,  and  covering  property 
superior  to  zinc,  will  not  be  questioned — white- 
lead  ground,  without  any  admixture  of  adul¬ 
terating  materials,  of  course,  is  meant.  To 
account  for  this,  we  need  go  no  further  than 
the  fact  that,  a  given  weight  of  white  lead  in 
its  dry  state  requires  less  than  half  the  quan¬ 
tity  of  oil  to  wet  it  that  would  be  necessary 
to  wet  the  same  quantity  of  zinc,  blow,  white 
paint  derives,  in  a  great  measure,  its  value 
from  its  covering  qualities,  that  is,  the  prop¬ 
erty  of  opacity,  its  quality  of  rendering  soiled, 
dirty,  stained,  discolored  wood-work  or  walls 
solidly  white ;  of  producing  a  clear,  white 
surface,  covering  up  and  rendering  invisible 
whatever  may  have  been  before  unsightly. 
That  this  result  may  be  obtained  more  cer¬ 
tainly  with  lead  than  with  zinc,  there  can 
hardly  be  a  question ;  but  there  is  a  second 


WHITE  PIGMENTS. 


53 


very  important  consideration,  which  is,  the 
comparative  durability  of  the  two  materials. 
The  painted  work  inside  a  house  requires 
constant  wiping  and  washing  to  keep  it  clean ; 
hence  it  follows,  other  things  being  equal,  that 
the  paint  which  adheres  most  tenaciously  to 
the  wood,  which  resists  most  successfully  the 
constant  and  repeated  washings  to  which  in¬ 
side  work  must  more  or  less  be  exposed,  is 
the  most  economical  and  most  desirable.  Zinc 
paint  is  more  water-proof  than  lead ;  that  is, 
the  application  of  water  and  soap  to  the  out¬ 
ward  surface  of  a  coating  of  zinc  does  not  im¬ 
pair  its  durability  to  the  same  degree  that  it 
does  lead  paint.  The  particles  of  lead  do  not 
have  any  cohesiveness  except  what  the  oil 
gives  them ;  and  that  cohesiveness  being  re¬ 
moved  by  the  action  of  water  or  the  sun’s 
rays,  they  fall  off  from  the  wood.  On  the 
contrary,  the  particles  of  zinc  seem  to  depend 
on  each  other  to  form  a  continuous  coating ; 
they  seem  to  overlie,  to  lap  on,  in  such  a  way 
as  to  prevent  the  water  from  working  around 


54 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


or  behind  them.  All  who  have  taken  notice 
are  aware  of  the  fact  that  outside  work,  cov¬ 
ered  with  the  very  best  of  white-lead  paint, 
becomes  in  a  short  time  chalky,  and  the  paint 
mbs  off  on  the  hand  or  clothes  when  brought 
in  contact  with  it,  especially  in  sunny  expo¬ 
sures.  The  reason  of  this  is,  that  the  sun, 
acting  with  the  lead,  destroys  the  water-proof 
properties  of  the  oil,  and  the  paint  becomes, 
a  whitewash,  liable  to  be  removed  by  rain 
and  storms.  Zinc,  from  this  property  of  co¬ 
hesiveness  which  it  possesses,  is  not  so  soon 
affected  by  the  action  of  the  sun  and  rain.  It 
forms  a  smoother,  harder  surface,  and,  shedding 
the  water  more  perfectly,  resists  its  action  for 
a  greater  length  of  time. 

Yet  for  this  very  reason  zinc  is  unsuited 
for  use  in  situations  exposed  to  much  damp¬ 
ness,  for,  though  it  does  not,  like  white  lead, 
crumble  away  and  fall  off  particle  after  par¬ 
ticle,  it  does  scale  or  flake,  and  falls  from  the 
wood  in  shelly  masses,  leaving  the  surface  of 
the  work  as  entirely  free  from  covering  as  if 


WHITE  PIGMENTS. 


55 


it  had  not  been  painted.  This  occurs,  how¬ 
ever,  only  in  situations  where  it  is  exposed  to 
much  dampness.  Where  zinc  is  employed,  it 
is  not  recommended  for  a  first  coating,  hut 
white-lead  for  the  first  application,  and  zinc 
for  the  succeeding  coats,  particularly  the  fin¬ 
ishing  one.  As  to  the  question  of  comparative 
expense  in  the  use  of  these  materials,  there  is 
not  much  to  he  said — possibly  there  is  a  slight 
difference  in  favor  of  zinc,  hut  it  is  incon¬ 
siderable. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


WHITE  LEAD,  ITS  MODE  OF  PRODUCTION,  ETC. 

Until  within  the  present  centiuy,  the 
manufacture  of  white  lead  was  confined  prin¬ 
cipally  to  Holland ;  and  what  is  known  as  the 
Dutch  process  is  now  the  mode  of  operation 
in  its  production  in  most  of  the  lead-works  of 
Europe  and  America.  As  before  stated,  until 
within  a  few  years,  carbonate  of  lead  was  the 
only  white  paint  in  use  for  painting  the  wood¬ 
work  and  walls  of  houses.  It  preserves  its 
whiteness  well  when  mixed  with  oil,  works 
smoothly  and  easily  under  the  brush,  and 
gives  a  uniform  coating  to  wood,  plaster,  or 
stone.  Under  some  of  its  various  names,  as 
Silver  White,  Flake  White,  Ivrems  White,  or 
China  White,  it  is  the  most  important  pig¬ 
ment  on  the  palette  of  the  artist,  and  forms, 


WHITE  LEAD — MODE  OF  PRODUCTION.  57 


with  zinc,  the  staple  in  the  stock  of  the  house- 
painter.  Although  some  improvements  have 
been  made  in  the  manufacture  of  this  article, 
it  remains  the  same,  in  all  its  essential  features, 
as  when  first  described  in  print.  Hundreds 
of  so-called  improvements  have  been  made, 
and  innumerable  patents  have  been  issued,  for 
inventions  whereby  the  loss  of  time  consequent 
upon  the  production  of  white  lead  by  the  old 
process  was  to  be  avoided,  and  the  cost  of 
manufacture  lessened;  or,  some  other  oxide 
of  lead  was  to  be  substituted  for  the  carbonate. 
So  far  none  of  them  have,  to  any  appreciable 
extent,  lessened  the  demand  for  white  lead,  or 
brought  it  into  disfavor  in  the  slightest  degree. 
Millions  of  dollars  have  been  wasted  in  the  so- 
far  vain  attempt  to  find  a  preparation  of  lead 
which  should  take  the  place  of  the  carbonate, 
as  produced  by  the  Dutch  process. 

White  lead  is  produced  simply  by  exposing 
thin  sheets  or  shapes  of  blue  lead  to  the  fumes 
of  vinegar.  The  metallic  lead  is  melted  in  iron 
kettles,  and  run  into  moulds  or  shapes  called 


58 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


buckles.  These  buckles  are  about  the  cireum 
ference  of  small  tea-plates,  and  have  the  ap¬ 
pearance  in  form  somewhat  of  large,  round 
buckles;  the  object  being  to  expose  as  much 
of  the  surface  of  the  metal  as  possible  to  the 
action  of  the  vinegar.  These  buckles  are 
placed  in  earthen  pots  (glazed  on  the  inside)  of 
uniform  size,  along  with  a  quantity  of  whiskey 
or  molasses  vinegar,  or  other  acetic  acid.  Thus 
charged,  the  pots  are  placed  in  a  bed  of  spent 
tan-bark  (the  refuse  of  the  tan-yard)  to  the 
number  of  12,000,  more  or  less,  according  to 
convenience.  The  first  layer  of  pots  is  cov¬ 
ered  with  boards,  on  which  is  placed  another 
and  thinner  layer  of  tan,  and  again  a  layer  of 
pots,  and  so  on,  alternate  layers  of  tan  and 
pots,  until  the  stack,  as  it  is  called,  is  com¬ 
pleted.  On  the  top  of  all  is  placed  a  thick 
layer  of  tan,  and  the  process  of  converting  the 
metal  into  white  lead  may  be  said  to  have 
commenced.  In  a  longer  or  shorter  time,  ac 
cording  to  circumstances,  the  tan  generates 
sufficient  heat  to  vaporize  the  acid,  which, 


WHITE  LEAD — MODE  OF  PRODUCTION.  59 


coming  in  contact  with  the  metal,  changes  the 
same,  by  a  mysterious  chemical  process,  into  a 
white,  brittle  substance  which,  with  crushing 
and  grinding,  becomes  the  beautiful  white 
pigment  with  which  all  are  familiar  under  the 
name  of  white  lead.  The  process  of  disin¬ 
tegration  and  conversion  goes  on  for  many 
days,  and  at  the  end  of  eight  or  ten  weeks, 
more  or  less,  the  stack  is  ready  to  be  taken 
down.  On  uncovering  the  pots,  they  will  be 
found  to  contain  no  acid,  and  the  buckles  will 
be  found  to  have  increased  materially  in  thick¬ 
ness  and  bulk  and  weight.  In  that  unsightly 
and  apparently  inert  mass  of  tan  and  boards, 
has  been  going  on,  silently  and  secretly,  hour 
after  hour,  day  after  day,  and  week  after  week, 
during  the  lone  watches  of  the  night  and  the 
bright  glare  of  noonday,  one  of  the  most  beau¬ 
tiful  and  interesting  processes  of  nature.  The 
acid,  at  first  cold  and  inactive,  warmed  into 
life  by  the  self-generated  heat  of  the  surround¬ 
ing  mass,  has  attacked  the  tough  and  ductile 
metal,  destroying  its  metallic  structure,  form 


60 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


ing  a  new  combination  into  which  it  enters  as 
one  of  the  component  parts,  adding  weight 
and  bulk  to  the  already  heavy  substance,  and 
bringing  forth  a  material  which  to  the  eye 
offers  no  sign  of  the  secret  of  its  birth.  Dur¬ 
ing  the  process,  the  tan  will  have  lost  its  power 
of  generating  heat,  the  acid  will  have  been 
resolved  into  its  original  elements,  and  the 
buckles,  with  their  added  weight,  remain  to 
repay  the  cost  of  expended  labor  and  material. 
These  buckles,  when  taken  from  the  pots,  are 
found  to  be  encrusted,  to  a  greater  or  less  ex¬ 
tent  (in  some  cases  perfect  corrosion  has  taken 
place),  with  a  white,  brittle  coating,  amount¬ 
ing  say  to  two-thirds  or  three-fourths  by 
weight  of  the  buckles  when  first  placed  in  the 
pots.  This  crustation  is  removed  by  pound¬ 
ing,  in  a  machine  prepared  for  the  purpose, 
and  that  portion  of  blue  lead  which  shall  re¬ 
main  is  returned  to  the  melting-pots  to  be 
again  cast  into  buckles  and  again  submitted 
to  the  action  of  vinegar  and  heat.  The  crust, 
which  is  now  the  carbonate  of  lead,  composed 


WHITE  LEAD — MODE  OF  PKODUCTION.  (11 


of  about  ninety  parts  of  metal  with  ten  pails 
of  carbonic  acid,  is  thoroughly  washed  to  free 
it  from  stains  arising  from  whatever  cause, 
and  then  crushed  and  ground  in  water  between 
heavy  mill-stones,  into  a  fine,  pasty  mass,  which 
is  conveyed  to  a  stack  or  series  of  steam-tight, 
hollow  pans  placed  one  above  the  other,  the 
upper  surfaces  of  which  are  composed  of  sheets 
of  copper,  riveted  together  to  form  continuous 
plates.  Into  the  hollow  of  these  pans,  the  ex¬ 
hausted  steam  from  the  engine  is  introduced, 
and  the  white  lead  is  thoroughly  dried.  It  has 
now  become  the  dry  white  lead  of  commerce, 
and  is  ready  to  be  made  into  paint,  simply 
by  mixing  with  linseed-oil  in  the  proportion 
of  about  nine  pounds  of  oil  to  one  hundred 
pounds  of  lead,  and  again  grinding  in  heavy 
stone  mills.  The  production  for  the  United 
States  for  the  year  1867  is  estimated  at  about 
eighteen  thousand  tons ;  more  than  half  of 
which  was  produced  by  the  different  manufac¬ 
tories  in  the  city  of  Brooklyn.  The  objections 
to  the  use  of  white  lead,  as  a  paint,  are  worthy 


62 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


of  consideration,  though  not  by  any  means  so 
formidable  as  most  persons  suppose.  The 
main  objection  is  the  poisonous  property  of 
the  article,  and  its  consequent  deleterious 
effect  upon  the  health.  The  second,  its  lia¬ 
bility  to  become  discolored  by  the  action  of 
certain  gases  which  are  common  in  and  about 
every  dwelling.  The  first  objection  was,  in 
former  times,  of  great  importance,  but  now 
has  lost  nearly,  if  not  wholly,  its  force.  In 
those  times  the  rudimentary  part  of  the  edu¬ 
cation  of  a  painter’s  apprentice  in  the  myste¬ 
ries  of  the  craft  was  the  mixing  of  dry  white 
lead  with  oil  in  a  tub  or  keg,  and  grinding 
the  same  in  a  mill  with  hand-power.  This 
work  was  usually  performed  during  the  winter 
months,  in  close,  warm  rooms,  and  more  or 
less  of  the  particles  of  dry  lead  found  their 
way  into  the  system  by  inhalation.  The 
effect  was  seen  in  the  fair  complexions  and 
decayed  teeth  of  most  of  those  who  followed 
the  trade,  and  not  a  few  cases  of  painter’s  colic 
occurred,  some  of  which  proved  fatal.  In 


WHITE  LEAD — MODE  OE  PRODUCTION.  63 


these  times  we  have  changed  all  that.  Now, 
steam  does  the  unwholesome  drudgery,  and 
gives  to  the  painter’s  apprentice  better  occu¬ 
pation  for  his  winter  hours,  than  the  rudimen¬ 
tary  crank-work  which,  to  say  the  best  of  it, 
was  not  a  liighly-intellectual  occupation,  nor 
one  calculated  to  lead  the  soul  to  longings 
after  the  ideal.  Now,  the  white  lead  comes 
to  the  hands  of  the  workman  locked  up,  so  to 
speak,  in  indissoluble  bonds,  every  particle  of 
it  enclosed  and  encased  with  a  water-proof 
substance,  and  no  more  deleterious  to  health 
than  would  be  the  same  quantity  of  flour-paste. 
It  has  been  pronounced  by  learned  and  scien¬ 
tific  men,  doctors  and  professors,  to  be  un¬ 
wholesome  to  sleep  in  freshly-painted  apart¬ 
ments,  or  to  inhale  the  air  of  a  room  newly 
painted.  The  ground  for  such  a  theory  is, 
of  course,  the  supposition  that  there  are,  float¬ 
ing  in  the  atmosphere,  particles  of  white  lead 
in  sufficient  quantity  to  injure  the  health,  the 
same  finding  then  way  into  the  system  by  in¬ 
halation  or  absorption.  In  the  opinion  of  the 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


Gi 

writer,  it  would  take  as  long  to  poison  a  man 
with  the  particles  of  white  lead  which  float  in 
the  atmosphere  of  a  freshly-painted  house,  as 
to  cause  an  attack  of  gravel  by  inhaling  the 
particles  of  a  grind-stone  which  fly  off  with 
the  water  that  evaporates  from  its  surface. 
Indeed,  it  is  contended  that  not  the  minutest 
particle  of  white  lead  passes  off  from  the  sur¬ 
face  of  newly-painted  wood-work  during  the 
chemical  operation  of  the  drying  of  the  paint. 
To  say  that  people  are  made  sick  or  nauseated 
by  the  smell  of  fresh  paint,  is  no  more  an  ar¬ 
gument  in  favor  of  the  theory  of  its  being 
poisonous,  than  that  the  odor  of  onions,  which 
is  disgusting  to  many,  is  proof  of  the  unwhole¬ 
someness  of  that  pungent  and  liighly-nutri- 
tious  vegetable. 

White  lead  is  not  recommended  for  iron¬ 
work,  when  the  object  is  to  preserve  the  metal 
from  the  corrosive  action  of  oxygen.  It  may 
be  truly  said  that  there  is  no  pigment  in  com¬ 
mon  nse  (the  copper  greens  excepted)  which 
does  not  afford  a  better  protection  than  pure 


AVIIITE  LEAD — MODE  OF  PRODUCTION.  65 


white  lead.  Most  oil  paints  are  simple  me¬ 
chanical  mixtures,  and  the  pigments  are  not 
supposed  to  exert  any  chemical  action  on  the 
oil  in  which  they  are  mixed ;  hut  the  oxygen 
in  white  lead  is  supposed  to  combine  with 
part  of  the  oil,  and  thereby  form  true  plaster 
or  metallic  soap.  This  chemical  change  may 
account  for  the  well-known  fact,  that  pure 
white  lead  is  the  least  durable  of  any  known 
pigment.  When  a  white  surface  is  indispen¬ 
sable,  zinc  is  far  preferable  to  lead,  for  paint¬ 
ing  iron. 


CHAPTER  X. 


WHITE  OXIDE  OF  ZINC. 

This  pigment,  which  ranks  next  in  impor¬ 
tance  to  white  lead  in  the  list  of  paints,  consists 
of  thirty-two  parts  of  the  metal  zinc,  and  eight 
parts  of  oxygen.  In  its  dry  state,  it  is  a  beau¬ 
tiful  white,  soft,  feathery  substance,  and  has 
long  been  known  and  used  for  medicinal  pur¬ 
poses,  under  the  name  of  Flowers  of  Zinc. 
It  mixes  readily  with  oil,  hut  does  not  work 
so  freely  under  the  brush  as  white  lead,  and 
requires  rather  more  skill  in  its  manipulation, 
to  produce  a  smooth  and  even  surface.  It  is 
entirely  free  from  objections  in  a  sanitary 
point  of  view,  and  is  not  known  to  affect 
deleteriously  the  health  of  the  workmen  en¬ 
gaged  in  its  production,  in  the  slightest  degree. 
This  pigment  is  produced  by  reducing  the 


WHITE  OXIDE  OF  ZINC. 


6'7 


ores  of  zinc  in  oven-shaped  furnaces  having 
•  perforated  cast-iron  floors,  and  openings  in  the 
tops  for  the  escape  of  the  zinc  and  the  gases 
of  combustion.  A  fire  of  anthracite  coal  is 
made  all  over  the  floor  of  the  furnace,  and  a 
blast  of  cold  air  is  driven  through  the  same. 
The  ores,  crushed  to  the  size  of  coarse  sand, 
and  mixed  with  fine  coal,  are  spread  on  the 
fire,  and  when  raised  to  2,000  degrees  Fahren¬ 
heit,  are  deoxidized— the  oxygen  of  the  ore 
uniting  with  the  coal,  forming  carbonic  acid 
gas — the  zinc  rising  as  a  metallic  vapor.  The 
vapor  and  gases  are  sucked  from  the  furnace, 
and  conveyed  through  iron  pipes  to  a  large 
room  into  which  they  are  driven,  and  out  of 
which  the  gases  escape.  This  room  is  filled 
with  large,  stout  hags,  suspended  open- 
mouthed  to  catch  the  zinc,  which,  in  its  pas¬ 
sage  from  the  furnace  to  the  hags,  goes  through 
chambers  into  which  air  is  admitted.  In  its 
vaporous  form  it  unites  with  the  oxygen  of 
the  atmosphere,  forming  the  light,  flaky  sub¬ 
stance  known  as  Flowers  of  Zinc.  The  oxide 


6S 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


at  tliis  stage  is  extremely  light,  thirty  or  forty 
pounds  of  the  same  being  sufficient  to  fill  a 
barrel.  It  is  then  compressed  to  about  one- 
fonrth  of  its  former  bulk,  and  packed  in  bar 
rels  of  200  pounds  or  casks  of  400  pounds,  and 
sold  to  manufacturers,  whose  business  it  is  to 
prepare  the  same  by  mixing  and  grinding  in 
oil  for  the  use  of  the  painter. 

White  zinc  was  formerly  largely,  and  is 
now  to  some  extent,  imported  from  France 
and  Belgium.  The  rapid  improvement  in  the 
manufacture  of  it  in  this  country  has,  however, 
to  a  great  extent,  driven  the  foreign  zinc  from 
the  market.  There  are  several  establishments 
in  this  country  for  the  manufacture  of  white 
oxide  of  zinc,  the  principal  ones  being  the 
New  Jersey  Zinc  Company,  at  Newark,  N.  J., 
who  manufacture  principally  from  the  ore 
known  as  red  oxide ;  the  Lehigh  Zinc  Com¬ 
pany,  at  Bethlehem,  Pa.,  who  use  the  ores 
known  as  carbonates  and  silicates ;  and  the 
Passaic  Mining  and  Manufacturing  Company, 
who  use  the  red  oxides,  as  also  the  carbonates 


WHITE  OXIDE  OF  ZINC. 


69 


and  silicates.  The  total  production  of  zinc 
paint  by  the  different  manufactories  in  the 
United  States,  during  the  past  year  (1867), 
was  seven  thousand  five  hundred  tons. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


THEORY  OF  COLOR. 

When  tlie  material  objects  composing  a 
landscape  or  other  diversified  view  are  pho¬ 
tographed  on  the  retina  of  the  eye,  the  mind 
becomes  conscious  of  certain  impressions. 
These  impressions,  when  analyzed,  are  found 
to  comprise  the  ideas  of  height,  breadth,  depth, 
form,  distance,  and  color.  All  these,  except 
the  latter,  are  facts  capable  of  mathematical 
demonstration,  and  exist,  so  far  as  the  eye 
alone  teaches,  independent  of  the  direct  action 
of  any  of  the  invisible  forces  of  nature.  Color, 
on  the  contrary,  which  in  many  instances  pro¬ 
duces  the  most  vivid  impression  of  all,  is  not 
in  any  sense  an  attribute  of  these  visible 
forms.  It  does  not  belong  to  them,  and  is  no 
more  a  part  of  them  than  the  sensation  which 


THEORY  OF  COLOR. 


71 


it  produces.  All  tlie  attributes  of  substantial 
objects,  all  the  material  forms  which  are  re¬ 
vealed  to  the  eye,  may  be  made  comprehen¬ 
sible  to  the  mind  of  one  deprived  of  the  sense 
of  sight ;  but  the  mind  of  a  blind  man  cannot 
grasp  the  idea  of  color.  The  fatigue  conse¬ 
quent  upon  ascending  a  lofty  tower,  may 
teach  him,  experimentally,  of  the  fact  of 
height ;  the  exercise  of  limb  necessary  to  reach 
a  remote  point,  tells  him  of  the  fact  of  dis¬ 
tance  ;  the  sense  of  touch,  in  his  case,  exquis¬ 
itely  acute  from  constant  use,  will  reveal  to 
him  forms  the  most  delicate  and  intricate ; 
but  of  the  sensation  of  color  his  darkened 
mind  can  have  no  conception — simply  be¬ 
cause,  when  there  is  not  a  perfect  visual  or¬ 
gan,  there  can  be  no  intelligent  comprehen¬ 
sion  of  that  sensation  which  for  convenience 
we  call  color.  ISTor  does  it  follow  even  when, 
for  other  purposes,  the  organ  of  vision  is 
perfect,  that  the  sensation  of  color  is  pro¬ 
duced  upon  the  mind.  Color-blindness  is  by 
no  means  uncommon,  and  some  facts  con- 


72 


HOUSE-PAINTIN’ Gr. 


nectecl  with  that  peculiar  affection  will  he 
given  in  succeeding  pages. 

Color  is  an  attribute  of  light ,  and  in  the 
absence  of  light  all  objects  are  black!  That 
the  color  which  seems  to  belong  to  any  mate- 
-  rial  substance  is  not  inherent  in  that  substance, 
or  inseparable  from  it,  is  proved  by  the  fact 
that  we  can  give  to  a  body,  any  desired  color, 
by  exposing  it  to  light  of  that  peculiar  hue. 
For  example;  the  light  which  passes  through 
a  stained-glass  window  gives  to  any  substance 
on  which  it  may  fall  the  color  of  the  light 
which  is  transmitted;  and  so  long  as  the  light 
continues  the  color  remains ;  as  the  light 
fades,  the  color  grows  more  indistinct,  and  in 
the  absence  of  light  will  have  ceased  to  exist, 
not  only  in  the  particular  spot,  but  on  all  sur¬ 
rounding  objects. 

A  direct  ray  from  the  sun,  reaching  the 
brain  through  the  optic  nerve,  causes  a  sensa¬ 
tion  which  is  signified  by  the  term  white. 
That  ray,  however,  is  not  simple,  but  a  com¬ 
pound  structure,  and  is  capable,  under  certain 


THEORY  OF  COLOR. 


73 


modifications,  of  causing  a  variety  of  sensa¬ 
tions  which  collectively  we  call  colors.  When 
a  ray  of  light  from  the  sun  is  passed  through 
a  three-sided  piece  of  polished  glass,  it  is  re¬ 
fracted  ;  that  is,  broken,  separated.  This 
broken  ray,  falling  on  a  white  surface,  pre¬ 
sents  to  the  eye  an  image  composed  of  many 
bands  of  colored  light.  The  cause  which  pro¬ 
duces  these  sensations  must  be  inherent  in  this 
white  light,  because  the  medium  through 
which  it  has  passed,  and  which  has  broken  it, 
is  colorless  of  itself,  and  cannot  impart  color 
to  the  light  in  its  passage. 

A  closer  examination  of  this  split  or 
broken  ray,  shows  us  its  true  composition. 
At  the  base  of  this  image  we  find  Rer.  This 
modulates  into  red-orange,  orange,  yellow- 
orange,  which  is  succeeded  by  yellow,  the 
second  color  in  the  spectrum— the  intermediate 
hues  being  the  result  of  the  mingling  of  the 
two  colors.  Yellow  is  succeeded  by  yellow- 
green,  green,  blue-green,  and  blue  /  then 
comes,  completing  the  circle,  blue-purple, 

4 


74 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


purple  or  violet,  red-purple,  and  again  red. 
Shut  out  the  ray  of  light,  and  we  have  black, 
which  is  the  absence  of  all  color;  remove  the 
prism  and  admit  the  ray,  and  we  have  white, 
unbroken  light,  which  is  made  up  of  the  three 
colors,  red,  yellow,  and  blue. 

The  true  theory  of  color  (or  more  properly, 
perhaps,  the  theory  generally  accepted  by  the 
scientific  to-day)  is  commonly  hard  to  he  un 
derstood,  and  the  objections  to  it  take  this 
shape :  “  Do  you  mean  that  the  many  colors, 
and  hues,  and  tints,  which  we  see  around  us, 
have  no  existence  hut  in  the  brain,  and  are  as 
unsubstantial  as  the  emotions  we  experience 
in  beholding  them — mere  impressions,  which 
cease  to  exist,  except  in  the  memory,  when 
we  close  our  eyes  to  them  ?  ” 

The  hues  of  the  rainbow  are  as  substantial 
as  the  colors  of  the  most  gorgeous  purple 
stuffs  which  the  eye  ever  beheld !  the  same 
law  operates  to  produce  them  all.  Little 
globules  of  water,  under  certain  circumstances, 
possess  the  power  or  property  of  breaking  the 


THEORY  OF  COLOR. 


75 


sunlight  into  its  component  parts.  When, 
under  such  circumstances,  these  refracted  rays 
fall  upon  the  eye,  and  enter  the  brain,  the 
image  photographed  there  is  a  how  or  arc  of 
greater  or  less  extent,  composed  of  hands  or 
stripes  of  colors  and  hues  in  regular  succession, 
always  in  the  same  order,  differing  only  in 
intensity.  While  we  gaze,  the  image  fades ; 
from  some  cause — either  the  declining  sun  or 
an  intervening  cloud — the  beautiful  how  has 
ceased  to  exist;  yet  the  colors  in  that  rain- 
how  were  as  real,  as  substantial,  as  those  found 
on  the  painted  walls  of  Herculaneum,  or  in 
the  chambers  of  the  Egyptian  pyramids,  which 
have  retained  their  brilliancy  through  all  the 
changes  of  twenty,  thirty,  or  forty  centuries. 
Similar  causes  will  again  produce  like  effects. 
When  the  sun,  the  eye,  and  the  rain-drops  shall 
again  find  themselves  in  the  same  relative  posi¬ 
tions,  the  colored  bow  will  reappear,  and  the 
colors  would  remain  fixed,  permanent,  suppos¬ 
ing  the  resulting  causes  could  remain  the  same. 

All  visible  substances  possess  the  property 


76 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


of  refracting,  reflecting,  transmitting,  or  ab¬ 
sorbing  the  rays  of  light  which  fall  upon  them, 
and  the  results  are  colors,  hues,  tones,  tints, 
and  shades.  Some  substances  absorb  all  the 
colored  rays,  others  reflect  them  all.  (In  a 
strictly  technical  sense,  this  is  not  so,  but  the 
language  is  sufficiently  correct  for  practical 
purposes.)  In  the  one  case,  we  have  black, 
which  is  the  absence  of  all  color ;  in  the  other 
white,  which  is  the  presence  of  all.  Between 
these  extremes  we  have  the  primary  colors, 
red,  blue,  and  yellow,  and  all  their  deeper  and 
lighter  tones. 

By  mining  these  colors  in  varying  propor¬ 
tions,  we  obtain  the  various  hues.  By  mixing 
the  colors  with  black,  we  shade  them,  and  by 
mixing  with  white,  we  tint  them.  Combina¬ 
tions  of  colors  with  each  other,  and  with 
white  and  black,  where  no  particular  color 
predominates,  are  called  neutral  tints.  By 
mixing  blue  and  red,  we  obtain  violet,  and  by 
varying  the  proportions,  all  the  hues  between 
red  and  blue.  By  mixing  blue  with  yellow, 


THEORY  OF  COLOR. 


77 


we  produce  green,  and  all  the  hues  of  blue 
and  yellow-green  as  the  blue  or  yellow  pre¬ 
dominates.  By  mixing  red  with  yellow,  we 
produce  orange,  and  all  the  hues  of  red  and 
yellow-orange. 

When  a  substance  or  form  of  matter  pos¬ 
sesses  the  property  of  absorbing  or  extinguish¬ 
ing  those  primary  colors  which  are  called 
blue  and  yellow,  and  reflecting  the  third,  we 
signify  the  sensation,  which  is  produced  on 
the  brain  by  looking  at  this  substance,  as  red. 

When  red  and  blue  are  absorbed,  a  differ¬ 
ent  sensation  is  the  result,  and  yellow  is  the 
name  we  use  to  distinguish  that ;  and  so 
through  the  never-ending  variety  of  colors, 
hues,  tints,  and  shades. 

The  alphabet  of  color  has  only  three  let¬ 
ters  ;  but  so  wonderful  are  these  in  their  pos¬ 
sible  transpositions  and  combinations,  that  the 
skill  of  man  shall  never  exhaust  them.  The 
pencil  of  the  artist  shall  write  new  stories 
from  age  to  age,  and  new  combinations  shall 
ever  afford  us  fresh  delight. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


COLOK-BLIHDITE8S. 

To  say  that  one  lias  “  no  ear  for  music,'’ 
is  a  common  ancl  properly  significant  expres¬ 
sion,  and  the  want  of  it  is  considered  not  only 
a  misfortune,  but  is  frequently  made  a  subject 
of  reproach.  Its  absence  is  popularly  supposed 
to  indicate  the  presence  of  certain  qualities 
which  render  a  man  unworthy  the  confidence 
of  his  fellows.  To  say  that  one  has  “no  eye 
for  color’’  is  equally  proper  and  significant; 
but,  as  yet  among  our  own  people,  such  a  mis¬ 
fortune  is  not  supposed  to  furnish  good  ground 
for  impugning  a  man’s  sincerity,  or  to  unfit 
him  for  the  occupation  of  any  position  of  trust 
or  confidence.  Yet  it  would  be  difficult  to 
give  a  plausible  reason  why  “his  affections” 
should  be  “  dark  as  Erebus  ”  in  the  one  case, 
and  not  in  the  other. 


COLOR-BLINDNESS. 


79 


Tlie  faculty  to  discriminate  color,  exists  in 
different  individuals,  in  all  tlie  various  degrees 
of  development.  The  want  of  sensibility  to 
color-impressions  is  generally  supposed  to  he 
peculiar,  and  the  affection  in  marked  cases  is 
termed  “  color-blindness ;  ”  but,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  writer,  it  will  be  difficult,  if  not  impossi¬ 
ble,  to  draw  the  line  to  determine  who  are  and 
who  are  not  color-blind.  Doctor  Wilson,  of 
Edinburgh,  in  1855,  published  a  work  on  color¬ 
blindness,  wherein  he  arranges  the  different 
forms  or  degrees  of  dulness  to  color-impres¬ 
sions,  as  manifested  by  different  individuals. 

The  first  form,  which  is  common  among 
males,  particularly  of  the  educated  classes,  is 
shown  in  the  inability  to  distinguish  certain 
tones  of  browns,  from  certain  tones  of  green ; 
say  a  dull  green  from  a  dingy  brown ;  the 
second,  an  inability  to  distinguish  certain 
primary  colors,  as  red  from  green ;  the  third, 
an  inability  to  distinguish  any  color,  as  such ; 
the  person  affected  in  the  latter  degree,  seeing 
only  white  and  black,  lights  and  shades.  In 


SO 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


the  first  degree,  this  affection  is,  among  males, 
perhaps  the  rule  rather  than  the  exception, 
and  is  owing,  probably,  to  a  lack  of  education 
in  the  discrimination  of  colors.  In  support 
of  this  hypothesis,  the  fact  may  be  mentioned 
that  deaf  mutes  possess  this  power  of  discrimi¬ 
nation  to  a  high  degree.  Being  deprived  of 
the  use  of  those  most  important  faculties,  hear¬ 
ing  and  speech,  the  organs  remaining  to  them 
are  called  into  action  to  an  extent  quite  im¬ 
possible  with  those  who  possess  all  the  facul¬ 
ties  unimpaired.  Hence  such  persons  become, 
unconsciously,  highly  educated  in  the  dis¬ 
crimination  of  tones,  hues,  and  shades. 

An  instance  illustrative  of  this  fact  fell 
under  the  observation  of  the  writer,  in  the 
person  of  a  deaf  mute,  a  girl,  the  offspring  of 
a  married  couple  who  were  related  to  each 
other  in  the  degree  of  first  cousins.  This  child 
was  of  rare  personal  beauty,  both  of  face  and 
figure,  and  the  senses  remaining  to  her  were 
quickened  to  a  degree  quite  uncommon  with 
children  generally.  In  the  room  occupied  by 


COLOR-BLINDNESS. 


81 


the  writer  was  a  large  piece  of  Berlin  worsted 
work,  and  a  basket  containing  the  remnants 
of  the  colored  yarns,  portions  of  which  had 
been  used  in  the  production  of  the  work.  The 
child  was  a  frequent  visitor,  and  it  was  a 
source  of  great  interest  and  amusement  to  ob¬ 
serve  how  unerringly  she  would  select  from 
the  basket,  the  yarn  corresponding  to  any  des¬ 
ignated  hue  on  the  work.  ETo  matter  how 
slight  the  difference  in  shades,  she  never  made 
a  mistake  in  the  selection.  Dr.  Wilson  found 
that  the  majority  of  pupils  in  the  chemical 
class  at  the  veterinary  college  in  Edinburgh, 
declined  to  name  any  colors  beyond  red,  blue, 
green,  yellow,  and  brown ;  while  they  failed 
entirely  in  attempting  to  arrange  nearly  re¬ 
lated  hues  of  yarns,  or  those  of  varying  shades 
of  the  same  hue,  and  that  pink  and  other  pale 
colors,  as  pale  yellow,  blue,  and  green,  were 
often  confounded.  In  the  second  degree,  in 
the  less  marked  cases,  red  and  green,  and  these 
with  olive  and  brown,  failed  to  be  distin¬ 
guished. 


82 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


It  is  by  no  means  uncommon  to  find  per¬ 
sons  unable  to  distinguish  the  red  fruit  on  an 
apple-tree  from  the  green  of  its  leaves.  Three 
brothers  are  mentioned  by  Dr.  Wilson,  who 
mistook  red  for  green,  orange  for  grass-green, 
yellow  for  light  green.  In  the  third  degree, 
cases  of  winch  are  rare,  all  colors  are  recog¬ 
nized  only  as  giving  certain  degrees  of  light 
and  shade.  Instances  are  related  of  tailors, 
who  matched  black  cloth  with  red  thread,  and 
scarlet  livery  with  green  strings;  of  a  phy¬ 
sician  who  never  found  a  case  of  scarlet 
fever;  of  a  gentleman  who  condoled  with  a 
lady  supposing  her  in  weeds,  when  she  was 
dressed  in  a  vivid  green;  of  a  Quaker  who 
purchased  a  bottle-green  coat  for  himself,  and 
a  scarlet  merino  gown  for  his  wife ;  and  of  a 
school-girl  who  attempted  to  arrange  the  col¬ 
ors  in  her  drawing  by  the  sense  of  taste. 

The  causes  of  color-blindness  are  difficult 
to  trace  :  it  occurs  equally  with  light  and  dark 
eyes,  and  is  confined  mostly  to  the  educated 
classes,  the  female  sex,  however,  furnishing 


COLOR-BLINDNESS. 


83 


but  few  examples.  Among  the  savage  tribes 
no  case  lias  ever  been  known. 

These  instances  of  color  -  blindness  are 
given,  to  meet  the  objection  which  will  be 
made  to  the  theory  that  color  is  a  sensation, 
and  not  a  substance.  It  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that,  for  all  other  practical  purposes,  the 
visual  organs  in  those  persons  affected  by 
color-blindness,  were  as  perfect  as  are  those  of 
ordinary  individuals.  The  defect  is  some¬ 
where  between  the  eye  and  the  brain ;  either 
the  eye  is  incapable  of  transmitting  the  col¬ 
ored  rays  of  light,  or  the  brain  is  incapable  of 
experiencing  the  sensation  of  color :  arguing 
from  general  principles,  we  should  say  that 
the  defect  is  in  the  optic  nerve,  and  is  simply 
a  want  of  sensibility  to  certain  impressions, 
bearing  the  same  relation  to  the  waves  of 
light  as  the  hearing  in  those  persons  who  are 
said  to  have  no  ear  for  music,  does  to  the 
waves  of  sound.  It  is  well  known  that  those 
•who  are  insensible  to  musical  sounds,  who  can¬ 
not  distinguish  the  tones  in  the  musical  scale, 


84  HOUSE-PAINTING. 

are  for  other  purposes  sufficiently  acute  in  the 
sense  of  hearing ;  hut  he  the  cause  what  it 
may,  there  will  he  no  difficulty  in  arriving  at 
the  conclusion  that  one,  so  affected,  should  not 
adopt  the  calling  or  profession  of  painting,  or 
any  other  trade  wherein  a  nice  sense  of  dis¬ 
crimination  between  colors  and  shades  is  re¬ 
quired. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


BLACK  PIGMENTS. 

Lamp  Black,  Drop  Black,  Ivory  Black, 
Bone  Black,  Frankfort  Black  are  tlie  names 
applied  to  the  simple  substance  which  affords 
all  the  blacks  used  in  painting,  and  in  the 
manufacture  of  printers’  ink,  viz.,  Carbon. 
Lamp  black,  the  most  important  and  useful 
form  of  carbon  to  be  considered  here,  is  pro¬ 
duced  from  the  article  known  in  trade  as  com¬ 
mon  rosin,  or  other  bituminous  substances. 
The  finer  kinds  are  made  from  rosin,  and  the 
common  kinds  from  coal  or  gas  tar. 

All  resinous,  oily,  fatty  substances  produce 
lamp  black  in  the  process  of  burning,  it  being 
simply  the  soot  resulting  from  highly-combus- 
tible  bodies  as  they  are  imperfectly  consumed. 
Every  smoking  lamp  is  a  lamp-black  manu- 


86 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


factory  in  miniature.  Being  nearly  pure  car¬ 
bon,  it  is  one  of  the  most  unchangeable  sub¬ 
stances  known,  absolutely  indestructible  under 
all  ordinary  influences.  Acids,  alkalies,  and 
gases,  which  powerfully  and  rapidly  affect 
most  other  forms  of  matter,  have  generally  no 
effect  on  this. 

The  most  powerful  sunlight  cannot  bleach, 
or  destroy,  or  change  its  form  or  character. 
Through  all  the  changes  of  times  and  seasons, 
the  winter’s  cold  and  summer’s  heat,  it  re¬ 
mains  the  same.  Except  in  combination  with 
oxygen,  it  is  unchanged  by  heat,  and,  in  some 
of  its  forms,  a  furnace-fire  which  will  melt 
steel  as  wax,  causing  it  to  flow  like  water, 
does  not  produce  the  slightest  perceptible 
effect  on  this  simple  substance. 

A  very  good  idea  of  its  permanent  charac¬ 
ter,  when  used  as  a  paint,  may  be  had  by  ob¬ 
serving  the  old  sign-boards  at  toll-gates  and 
toll-bridges.  Exposure  for  many  years  to  sun¬ 
shine  and  storms  has,  in  most  cases,  not  only 
removed  the  surrounding  white-lead  paint 


BLACK  PIGMENTS. 


87 


wliich  originally  covered  the  wood,  and  on 
which  the  letters  were  traced,  hut  the  wood 
itself  will  have  yielded  to  atmospheric  influ¬ 
ences,  and  fallen  away  by  slow  disintegration, 
leaving  the  characters  which  signify  the  direc¬ 
tions,  rates  of  toll,  etc.,  raised  above  the  sur¬ 
rounding  surface,  like  the  letters  used  by  blind 
persons  in  learning  to  read.  The  carbon  used 
in  painting  the  letters  has  remained  through 
all,  the  same,  bidding  defiance  to  the  tooth  of 
Time  himself.  This  property  is  shown  also 
in  a  more  striking  degree  perhaps,  fly  the 
writings  found  at  Herculaneum,  which  have 
retained  their  original  blackness  for  more  than 
two  thousand  years.  In  remote  former  periods 
this  property  was  known  and  appreciated,  and 
the  ancients  seem  to  have  availed  themselves 
of  it  on  all  important  occasions. 

It  would  be  a  great  mistake,  however,  to 
suppose  that  all  the  black  paint  sold  and  used 
is  pure  carbon  ;  on  the  contrary,  all  that  used 
in  ship-painting,  and  known  as  common  black 
paint,  is  very  extensively  cheapened  by  adul- 


88 


house-painting. 


teration.  So  far,  indeed,  is  this  process  car¬ 
ried,  that  common  black  paint  is  mostly  com¬ 
posed  of  some  cheap  earthy  snbstance,  black¬ 
ened  by  the  addition  of  a  small  percentage 
of  lamp  "black.  The  extensive  use  of  this 
worthless  material  affords  another  instance  of 
the  want  of  economy  manifested  in  painting. 
The  actual  first  cost  of  painting  a  vessel  with 
pure  carbon  black  is  much  less  than  painting 
with  the  cheap  adulterated  material  in  com¬ 
mon  use,  to  say  nothing  of  the  saving  in  la¬ 
bor,  Avhich  is  a  most  important  consideration. 
While,  in  the  one  case,  the  paint  retains  its 
blackness,  and  adheres  tenaciously  to  the  wood, 
in  the  other  it  turns  gray  after  a  brief  expos¬ 
ure,  and  needs  frequent  renewals. 

The  test  of  the  purity  of  black  paint  is  its 
weight  in  proportion  to  its  bulk :  a  can  or  keg 
which  will  contain  twenty-five  pounds  of  com¬ 
mon  black  paint  will  contain  but  ten  pounds 
of  pure  carbon  black.  One  pound  of  pure 
black  will  cover  as  much  surface  as  three 
pounds  of  common  black,  at  proportionately 


BLACK  PIGMENTS. 


89 


nrucli  less  expenditure  of  labor.  Notwith¬ 
standing  these  facts,  it  would  be  difficult,  if 
not  impossible,  to  obtain  in  any  chandlery  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  where  ship-paints  are 
sold,  a  keg  of  pure  black  paint. 

In  ship-painting,  as  in  house-painting,  good 
results  can  be  produced  only  by  the  use  of 
good  material.  The  best  are  always  the 
cheapest. 

The  article  next  in  importance  is  ivory  or 
bone  black  (animal  charcoal),  known  also  as 
drop  black,  and  patent  black.  This  is  made 
by  first  calcining  bones  or  ivory  chips  and 
turnings,  in  a  close  retort,  and  afterward 
powdering  the  charcoal,  and  grinding  it  in 
water  between  heavy  millstones.  To  render 
it  more  entirely  black,  and  give  opacity,  a 
portion  of  prussiate  of  iron  is  added.  After 
being  thoroughly  dried  in  the  form  of  drops 
or  cakes,  it  is  again  powdered,  and  again 
ground  in  oil.  This  black  is  used  mostly  in 
coach  and  carriage  work. 

Fra/rikfort  Black  is  produced  by  calcining 


90 


HOUSE-PAENTING. 


vine  branches  and  twigs  and  other  lees  of  the 
vinegar-vats  in  Germany.  It  is  of  no  particu¬ 
lar  importance  to  the  house-painter,  but  is 
used  to  some  extent  in  painting  in  water- 
colors.  It  has  a  peculiar  blue  tint. 


CHAPTER  XI Y. 


G-BEEfT  PIGMENTS. 

Gkeens,  so  abundant  in  the  vegetable 
kingdom,  are  rare  in  the  mineral  world — cop¬ 
per  being  tbe  only  metal,  which,  in  its  combi¬ 
nations,  affords  the  various  shades  of  green  in 
common  use.  All  greens  used  in  house-paint¬ 
ing  are  either  copper  greens  or  chrome  greens. 
Chrome  green  (when  moderately  pure)  pos¬ 
sesses  a  dense  body,  or  covering  property,  and 
is  classed  among  what  are  called  body  colors. 

These  greens  (chromes)  are  not  permanent, 
being  a  combination  of  blue  and  yellow,  which 
colors  are  not  affected  in  like  degree  by  the  ac¬ 
tion  of  light.  The  copper  greens  are  transpa¬ 
rent,  by  far  the  most  durable,  and  retain  their 
brilliancy  much  longer  when  exposed  to  the 
action  of  the  sun’s  rays.  Previous  to  the  in- 


92 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


troduction  of  the  clirome  colors,  the  only  green 
pigment  in  common  nse  was  verdigris — 
French,  vcrt-de-gris. 

Verdigris  ( a  union  of  oxide  of  copper 
and  acetic  acid)  is  produced  by  exposing  small 
sheets  of  copper  to  the  action  of  vinegar,  in 
the  following  manner:  The  refuse  of  grapes, 
after  the  extraction  of  the  juice,  is  placed  in 
earthen  vessels,  which  are  covered  with  lids, 
and  surrounded  with  straw  mats.  The  mate¬ 
rials  soon  become  heated,  and  fermentation, 
beginning  at  the  bottom,  rises  till  it  permeates 
the  whole  mass.  At  the  end  of  two  or  three 
days,  the  fermenting  materials  are  removed  to 
other  vessels,  in  order  to  check  the  process,  lest 
putrefaction  should  ensue.  The  copper  plates 
are  prepared  by  rubbing  them  with  cloth 
dipped  in  a  solution  of  verdigris,  and  then  set 
aside  to  dry.  When  the  materials  are  all 
found  to  be  in  proper  condition,  the  plates  are 
laid  on  a  horizontal  wooden  grating  in  the 
middle  of  the  vat,  on  the  floor  of  which  is 
placed  a  pan  of  burning  charcoal,  which  heats 


GREEN  PIGMENTS. 


93 


them  to  a  certain  degree.  In  this  state  they 
are  put  into  earthen  vessels,  with  alternate 
layers  of  the  fermenting  grape-lees,  the  vessels 
are  covered  with  straw  mats  and  left  at  rest. 
At  the  end  of  ten  or  fifteen  days,  they  are 
opened,  to  ascertain  if  the  operation  he  com¬ 
pleted.  If  detached  glossy  crystals  be  per¬ 
ceived  on  the  surface,  the  grapes  are  thrown 
away,  and  the  plates  are  placed  upright  in  the 
cellar,  one  against  the  other ;  at  the  end  of 
two  or  three  days,  they  are  moistened  by  be¬ 
ing  dipped  in  water,  which  is  continued  at 
intervals  from  time  to  time.  This  treatment 
causes  the  plates  to  swell,  to  become  green, 
and  be  covered  with  a  layer  of  verdigris. 
This  is  scraped  off,  pressed  in  paper  sacks, 
dried  by  exposure  to  the  sun  and  air,  and  be¬ 
comes  the  verdigris  of  commerce. 

Distilled  Verdigris,  erroneously  so  called, 
is  made  by  dissolving  one  part  of  verdigris  in 
two  of  distilled  vinegar.  The  solution  is  then 
evaporated  and  crystallized.  This  article  was 
formerly  used  in  the  paint-shop  to  some  ex- 


94 


nOTTSE-PAESTTING. 


tent,  but  is  hardly  known  now  to  the  majority 
of  painters. 

Paris  Green,  or,  more  properly,  Scheele’s 
Green  ( arsenite  of  copper),  is  a  late  discovery, 
and  was  first  manufactured  by  the  chemist 
whose  name  it  bears.  It  is  known  in  England 
as  Emerald  Green.  It  consists  of  about  twen- 
ty-eight  parts  oxide  of  copper  and  seventy-two 
parts  arsenic,  is  a  kighly-poisonous  substance, 
some  persons  being  peculiarly  obnoxious  to  its 
poisonous  influence.  Eatal  accidents  have  re¬ 
sulted  from  its  careless  use.  A  few  years 
since,  the  quantity  of  this  pigment  used  in 
this  country  was  enormous,  but  of  late  the 
chrome  greens  have  taken  its  place.  It  is 
highly  transparent,  works  badly  under  the 
brush,  and,  as  painters  express  it,  “  covers 
badly ;  ”  consequently,  most  of  the  trade  prefer 
not  to  use  it.  In  contrast  with  it,  however, 
so  brilliant  is  this  color,  all  other  greens  be¬ 
come  dingy  browns,  and  the  eye  refuses  to 
recognize  any  other  pigment  as  green,  for  some 
seconds  after  looking  at  this  dazzling  tint. 


GUEEN  PIGMENTS. 


95 


Its  mode  of  production  is  as  follows :  First, 
an  arsenite  of  soda  is  formed,  by  adding  ar¬ 
senic  to  carbonate  of  soda  dissolved  in  boiling 
water  ;  next  sulphate  of  copper  (blue  vitriol)  is 
dissolved  in  water :  both  solutions  are  filtered, 
and  the  first  is  poured  progressively  into  the 
second  so  long  as  it  produces  a  rich,  grass- 
green  precipitate ;  this,  being  thrown  upon  a 
filter-cloth,  and  cleansed  by  washing  away  all 
particles  soluble  in  water,  is  then  dried  and 
pulverized. 

Chkome  Gtbeen. — This  well  -  known  and 
serviceable  pigment  is  another  of  the  products 
of  the  metal  chromium,  in  combination  with 
prussiate  of  iron.  Chrome-ore  is  a  union  of 
the  oxides  of  chromium  and  iron,  and  is  of  rare 
occurrence.  It  is  found  in  considerable  quan¬ 
tities  in  this  country,  in  Maryland,  near  Bal¬ 
timore  ;  the  chief  application  of  this  ore  is  in 
the  production  of  chromic  acid  (bichromate  of 
potash),  which  is  extensively  used  in  dyeing 
and  calico-printing,  and  in  the  production  of 
the  paints  known  as  chrome  colors.  Chromic 


96 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


acid,  literally  color  acid,  derives  its  name  (tlie 
Greek  original  signifies  color  or  to  color)  from 
tlie  property  it  possesses  of  throwing  down  a 
colored  precipitate,  when  added  to  the  saline 
solutions  of  certain  metals. 

The  pigment  known  as  chrome  green  is 
made  hy  mixing  together  chromate  of  lead 
(chrome  yellow)  and  prussiate  of  iron  (Prussian 
blue).  This  product  is  combined  with  an 
earthy  base,  either  sulphate  of  baryta  or  silica, 
in  proportions  to  suit  the  market  as  to  price. 
It  is  sold  under  various  names,  as  clironie 
green,  Brunswick  green,  Imperial  green, 
Hampden  green,  Mount  Vernon  green,  Per¬ 
sian  green,  Magnesia  green,  etc.,  etc.  These 
paints  differ  only  in  the  quantities  of  coloring 
matter  which  they  contain,  and  in  tlie  differ¬ 
ent  tones  of  color.  Under  whatever  name, 
they  are  simply  earthy  substances,  colored 
■with  a  mixture  of  blue  and  yellow. 

The  tones  and  tints  of  greens  are  distin¬ 
guished  by  the  following  names ;  that  is,  the 
names  given  are  those  by  which  the  greater 


GREEN  PIGMENTS. 


97 


majority  of  people,  speaking  the  English 
tongue,  will  best  comprehend  the  idea  in¬ 
tended  to  be  conveyed  :  grass  green,  known 
among  pigments  as  Emerald  or  Paris  green 
(this  color  best  represents  pure  green  ;  the 
others  are  mostly  shades  and*  tints  or  broken 
colors,  including  a  mixture  of  white,  or  black, 
or  red,  or  perhaps  of  all  these) ;  verditer,  or 
verdigris  green  (a  blue  green,  changing  when 
used  in  oil  to  a  bronze  hue),  pea  green,  leek 
green,  sea  green,  parrot  green,  apple  green, 
tea  green,  olive  green,  blue  green,  yellow 
green,  rifle  green,  bronze  green,  sage  green. 


5 


CHAPTER  XV. 

BLUE  PIGMENTS. 

Hatuke,  so  prodigal  in  the  dispensation  of 
green  tints  throughout  the  vegetable  world, 
has  been  correspondingly  chary  in  the  diffu¬ 
sion  of  pure,  unmixed  blue.  Among  the  wild 
flowers  of  the  woods  and  fields,  and  the  thou¬ 
sands  of  cultivated  exotics  in  gardens  and 
green-liouses,  one  may  look  almost  in  vain  for 
a  perfectly  pure  blue  tint.  The  slightest  ad¬ 
mixture  of  yellow  causes  a  green  tinge,  and 
a  trace  of  red  produces  a  purple  or  violet 
color. 

The  only  blues  used  in  house-painting  are 
Prussian  blue,  cobalt  blue,  and  imitation  of 
ultra-marine. 

Tkue  U ltka-M  arine. — This  beautiful  blue 
(which  formerly  sold  in  London  at  twice  Its 


BLUE  PIGMENTS. 


99 


weight  in.  gold)  is  of  Nature’s  own  production, 
and  has  never  been  equalled  by  chemical  skill. 
It  is  the  purest  in  tint  of  all  the  known  blue 
pigments,  being  nearly  free  from  any  tinge  of 
purple  or  green,  and  is  also  one  of  the  most 
permanent  in  color.  It  is  produced  from  la- 
zulite,  a  precious  stone  found  principally  in 
Persia  and  Silesia.  To  the  house-painter  it  is 
of  no  importance,  except  as  a  matter  of  curi¬ 
osity. 

Imitation  Ultka-Marine  is  the  product 
of  chemical  skill,  and  was  discovered  by  a 
French  chemist,  Guimet,  It  is  said  to  be 
manufactured  from  precisely  the  same  mate¬ 
rials  as  are  found  on  analyzing  the  lapis  la¬ 
zuli,  viz.  :  silex,  soda,  alumina,  and  sulphur ; 
and  so  nearly  does  this  artificial  product  re¬ 
semble  the  genuine,  that  good  judges  of  color 
have  failed,  at  first  sight,  to  distinguish  the 
real  from  the  factitious.  Its  manufacture  is 
confined  mostly  to  Germany.  It  is  largely 
used  in  the  coloring  of  paper-hangings,  and 
on  interior  decoration. 


100 


HOUSE-PAINTING-. 


Prussian  Blue  ( prussiate  of  iron  orferro- 
cyanodide  of  iron )  is  a  deep-toned,  brilliant, 
transparent  color,  bordering  slightly  on  the 
green  tinge.  It  possesses  wonderful  coloring 
property,  and  is  used  extensively  by  the  artist 
on  miniature  draperies.  It  serves  admirably 
to  represent  blue  velvet ;  and,  mixed  with 
carmine,  all  the  varieties  of  purple,  violet, 
maroon,  and  cherry-colored  velvets  are  ob¬ 
tained.  It  is  little  used  by  the  house-painter 
in  its  pure  state,  but  for  producing  with  white 
the  different  tints  of  lighter  blues. 

Prussian  blue  is  a  chemical  compound  of 
iron  and  the  gaseous  substance  known  as 
cyanogen.  It  is  produced  by  boiling  together 
prussiate  of  potash,  green  sulphate  of  iron 
(copperas),  and  nitric  and  sulphuric  acids  in 
certain  proportions.  The  precipitate  is  washed, 
filtered,  pressed,  and  dried.  This  is  known  as 
pure  blue,  China,  or  Chinese  blue.  The 
cheaper  kinds  are  produced  by  adulteration 
with  chalk,  or  China  clay ;  starch  also  is 
sometimes  used.  A  good  blue  is  known  by 


BLUE  PIGMENTS. 


101 


-  the  following  tests :  it  feels  light  in  the  hand, 
adheres  to  the  tongue,  has  a  dark,  lively  blue 
color,  and  displays,  when  broken,  a  copper 
red  lustre.  If  adulterated  with  chalk  or  other 
carbonate  of  lime,  it  will  effervesce  when 
treated  with  acid ;  if  with  starch,  it  becomes 
pasty  when  mixed  with  boiling  water. 

Antwerp  Blue  is  a  lighter  colored  and 
somewhat  brighter  blue  than  Prussian  blue, 
hut  possessing  all  the  other  qualities  of  that 
pigment,  except  its  extreme  depth.  It  has 
naturally  a  green  tinge,  rendering  it  well 
adapted  for  mixed  greens. 

Cobalt  Blue  is  oxide  of  cohalt,  with 
alumina.  It  is  used  to  some  extent  in  house¬ 
painting. 

Blue  Smalt  is  glass,  colored  with  oxide 
of  cohalt. 

Blue  Yerditer  is  a  blue  oxide  of  copper, 
or  precipitate  of  nitrate  of  copper  with  lime. 
It  is  a  pale,  bright  blue,  deficient  in  color,  and 
not  much  in  request,  though  it  was  formerly 
extensively  used  in  making  washes  for  walls, 


102 


HOUSE-PAINTEN'G-. 


when  paper-hangings  were  not  as  cheap  and 
common  as  at  the  present  day. 

In  color  nomenclature,  hlues  are  distin¬ 
guished  hy  the  following  names  :  indigo  blue, 
sky  blue,  pale  blue,  smalt,  cobalt  blue,  ultra- 
marine,  or  lapis  lazuli,  light  blue,  China  blue, 
Prussian  blue,  and  turquoise. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


KED  PIGMENTS. 

Oe  tlie  primary  colors,  red  lias  tlie  most 
extensive  range  of  combination.  In  tbe  list 
of  colored  pigments,  reds  are  tbe  most  numer¬ 
ous,  and,  in  producing  tbe  tints  and  broken 
colors,  tbe  most  important. 

Red  (including  crimson,  and  scarlet,  and 
purple)  is  tbe  most  pleasing  of  all  the  colors, 
and  exercises  a  wonderful  fascination  for  all 
ages  and  conditions  of  mankind.  It  is  asso¬ 
ciated  with  our  most  pleasing  recollections, 
and  all  our  ideas  of  youth  and  beauty.  We 
speak  of  rosy  health,  and  rosy  life,  and  rosy 
hopes.  It  has  been  the  favorite  color  of  poets 
and  painters  in  all  ages.  It  is  employed  to  de¬ 
pict  health  and  loveliness  in  woman,  as  those 
“vermeil- tinctured  lips,”  and  in  the  tomb-scene 


104 


HOUSE-PAINTING . 


in  “  Romeo  and  Juliet,”  “  for  beauty’s  ensign 
yet ...  is  crimson  in  thy  lips  and  in  thy  cheeks, 
and  death’s  jpale  flag  is  not  advanced  there ;  ” 
and  in  the  “  Taming  of  the  Shrew,”  we  find, 
“such  Avar  of  white  and  red  within  her 
cheeks;”  and  again  in  “Romeo  and  Juliet,” 
“  Else  would  a  maiden  blush  bepaint  my 
cheek.”  It  is  also  the  favorite  color  in  most 
national  emblems  and  in  the  ensigns  of  war, 
and  ambition,  and  victory.  Shakespeare  says, 
in  “  Ring  Henry  II.,”  “  He  is  come  to  ope  the 
purple  testament  of  bleeding  war,”  and  in  the 
same,  “  Change  the  complexion  of  her  maid — 
pale  peace  to  scarlet  indignation.”  Crimson  is 
suggestive  of  health  and  strength,  of  womanly 
beauty,  and  manly  vigor,  and  crimson  sunsets 
give  promise  of  bright  days  to  come. 

hi  ature  has  confined  her  use  of  reds  mostly 
to  the  painting  of  the  petals  of  flowers,  and 
the  tempting  hues  of  luscious  fruits,  and  the 
gorgeous  plumage  of  tropical  birds.  Nowhere 
is  it  to  be  seen  in  the  sky  (except  in  occasional 
sunsets),  in  the  water,  or  in  the  earth ;  and  in 


EED  PIGMENTS. 


105 


the  general  landscape,  so  small  is  its  propor¬ 
tion,  compared  with  the  other  colors,  that  it 
may  almost  he  said  to  have  no  place  there. 

Among  pigments,  Caumine  is  the  purest 
type  of  red.  This  beautiful  and  familiar  color 
is  a  product  of  the  animal  world,  being  the 
coloring  matter  extracted  from  the  females  of 
the  insect  known  as  cochineal.  These  in¬ 
sects  abound  in  Mexico,  and  are  fed  on  the 
leaves  of  a  certain  species  of  the  cactus. 
There  are  plantations  of  this  cactus,  princi¬ 
pally  in  the  province  of  Oaxaca,  where  these 
insects  are  tended  with  as  much  care  as  is 
usually  bestowed  on  silk  -  worms.  At  the 
proper  season  the  insects  are  picked  from  the 
plant  with  a  dull  knife,  and  killed  by  being 
immersed  in  hot  water,  or  by  being  placed  in 
a  hot  oven.  It  is  said  that  it  takes  seventy 
thousand  of  them  to  weigh  a  pound. 

Carmine  is  prepared  from  the  boiling  solu¬ 
tion  of  cochineal,  by  adding  alum  and  carbo¬ 
nate  of  soda.  It  is  said  to  have  been  discov¬ 
ered  by  a  Franciscan  monk  at  Pisa,  in  the 


106 


HOUSE-PAOTTING. 


preparation  of  a  medicine  of  cocliineal  and 
salt  of  tartar. 

Carmine  is  much  used  in  dyeing,  and  not 
a  little  of  it  is  consumed  in  imparting  to  the 
cheeks  of  fair  maidens  that  beautiful  bloom 
which  is  so  much  admired. 

The  grades  of  carmine  are  distinguished 
by  numbers ;  that  known  as  No.  40,  being  the 
highest  grade. 

Vermilion  is  a  compound  of  quicksilver 
and  sulphur,  in  the  proportion  of  about  one 
hundred  parts  of  the  former  to  sixteen  of  the 
latter.  It  occurs  in  nature  as  a  common  ore 
of  mercury,  called  cinnabar.  It  is  known  to 
the  trade  as  Chinese,  Trieste,  English,  and 
that  manufactured  in  this  country,  as  Califor¬ 
nia  vermilion. 

For  many  years  the  only  vermilion  used 
in  this  country  was  that  imported  from  China, 
which  comes  wrapped  in  papers  containing 
about  one  ounce  each.  It  is  now,  however, 
used  in  comparatively  enormous  quantities, 
and  the  preference  is  given  to  the  article  of 


EED  PIGMENTS. 


107 


English  make.  It  is  of  different  shades,  and 
is  distinguished  as  dark  and  light ;  the  latter 
being  the  most  expensive.  Large  quantities 
of  Trieste  vermilion  also  are  consumed  in  this 
country,  it  being  considerably  cheaper  than 
the  English  article. 

Vermilion  is  a  rich,  bright  color  of  dense 
body,  and  permanent  when  exposed  to  the 
light.  American  vermilion,  so  called,  a  rather 
poor  imitation  of  true  vermilion,  is  made 
from  white  lead  and  chromic  acid  (bi-cliromate 
of  potash).  These  are  boiled  together,  washed, 
filtered,  pressed,  dried,  and  pulverized,  either 
with  rollers  or  with  the  hand.  It  must  not 
be  rubbed  so  hard  as  to  break  the  crystals,  or 
it  loses  its  color,  and  shows  what  it  really  is, 
an  orange  chrome.  The  manipulation  is  quite 
detrimental  to  the  health  of  the  workmen  en¬ 
gaged  in  its  manufacture. 

Venetian  Red. —  This  most  serviceable 
and  permanent  color  is  an  artificial  ochre, 
prepared  from  sulphate  of  iron.  It  is  made 
in  England,  mostly  in  the  vicinity  of  Hew- 


108 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


castle-on-Tyne.  When  used  in  its  pure  state, 
it  is  one  of  the  most  durable  colors  known. 
The  bright-red  stain  will  remain  on  a  build¬ 
ing  painted  with  it,  long  after  the  last  vestige 
of  the  oil  has  disappeared,  indeed,  after  the 
wood  itself  has  become  corroded  by  time  and 
the  elements.  It  is  but  little  used  in  house- 
painting  in  its  pure  state ;  but  is  very  service¬ 
able  in  making  grounds  for  black  walnut,  rose¬ 
wood,  mahogany,  etc. ;  also,  in  making  dur¬ 
able  gray  tints,  in  connection  with  blue. 

Indian  Red  is  a  deep,  lakey-red  earth, 
chiefly  a  very  rich  iron-ore,  or  peroxide  of 
iron.  It  is  permanent,  of  very  dense  body,  and 
is  used  mostly  for  tinting.  With  white  and 
ultra-marine  or  Prussian  blue,  it  produces 
fine,  clear  grays. 

Red  Lead  is  a  pure  oxide  of  lead,  and  is 
produced  by  exposing  metallic  lead  to  the  ac¬ 
tion  of  heat,  taking  care  not  to  fuse  it.  It  is 
mostly  employed  as  a  pigment  in  painting 
iron  vessels  and  iron-work  generally.  It  has 
an  affinity  for  the  latter  metal,  and  serves 


BED  PIGMENTS. 


109 


admirably  in  protecting  it  from  corrosion. 
Orange  Mineral  is  another  name  for  red  lead, 
and  is  produced  by  the  slow  calcination  of 
white  lead  in  iron  trays.  This  form  of  red 
lead  is  not  used  as  a  pigment. 

Light  Red  is  burnt  ochre,  not  used  in 
house-painting. 

Rose  Pink,  and  the  wood-lakes,  are  earthy 
substances,  stained  with  the  coloring  matter 
extracted  from  tropical  forest  -  trees.  They 
are  but  little  used  in  oil,  but  to  some  extent 
in  decorative  painting  in  water-colors,  and  in 
coarse  scene-painting.  The  different  sensa¬ 
tions  produced  by  red  and  its  combinations 
are  distinguished  as  red,  carnation,  blood  red, 
crimson,  scarlet,  purple,  vermilion,  fire  color, 
madder  color,  alkanet  color,  pomegranate  color, 
cherry  color,  pink,  peach  color,  damson  color, 
claret,  brown  purple,  violet,  mulberry,  lilac, 
apricot,  and  orange. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


YELLOWS. 

In  nature,  pure,  unmixed  yellows  are 
found  mostly  in  the  floral  kingdom.  Tliis 
color  is  not  specially  a  favorite,  and  must  be 
sparingly  used  in  internal  decorations  and  fur¬ 
niture.  Extreme  fondness  for  vivid  yellow  is 
manifested  mostly  in  uncultivated,  undevel¬ 
oped  human  intellects,  as  among  barbarous 
negro  tribes,  and  in  young  children.  Gener¬ 
ally,  the  hues  of  yellow  are  not  associated 
with  pleasant  recollections,  but  with  jaundice 
and  yellow  fever ;  an  ill  condition  of  health  is 
indicated  by  a  yellow  complexion.  The  at¬ 
mosphere  assumes  a  yellow  hue  on  the  near 
approach  of  earthquakes  and  hurricanes.  Em- 
due  secretions  of  the  bilious  fluid  cause  ob- 


YELLOWS. 


Ill 


jects  to  assume  a  yellow  tint.  Blue  discom¬ 
forts  seem  temporary  in  their  nature,  fitful, 
soon  to  he  succeeded  by  rosy  hues ;  hut  yel¬ 
low  seems  to  be  the  tone  of  despair,  of  perma¬ 
nent  melancholy.  A  yellow  flag  is  hoisted  on 
shipboard  when  an  execution  is  about  to  take 
place ;  and  yellow  flags  warn  us  of  hospitals, 
fevers,  and  the  “pestilence  that  walketli  at 
noonday.”  A  slight  tinge  of  blue,  no  doubt, 
suggested  the  idea  of  “  green  and  yellow  mel¬ 
ancholy.”  So  prevalent  an  impression  can 
hardly  be  the  result  of  accident,  but  would 
seem  to  spring  from  natural  causes. 

Chkome  Yellow  ( chromate  of  lead)  is, 
strictly  speaking,  the  only  yellow  pigment 
used  in  house-painting,  the  yellow  ochres  be¬ 
ing  yellow  browns  of  various  shades.  This 
brilliant  yellow  (chrome)  is  readily  produced, 
and  one  so  disposed  may  become  an  amateur 
color-maker  at  a  small  outlay  of  time  and 
money.  Sugar  of  lead  (acetate  of  lead)  in  so¬ 
lution,  and  chromic  acid  (bi-chromate  of  pot¬ 
ash)  in  solution,  when  mixed  together,  instant- 


112 


HOUSE-PAmTESTG. 


ly  assume  a  briglit-yellow  color,  and  precipi¬ 
tate,  when  left  at  rest,  the  pigment  known  as 
chrome  yellow.  This  is  washed  in  cold  water, 
treated  with  lime,  to  produce  the  deeper  or 
lighter  tones,  filtered,  pressed,  and  dried.  The 
result  is  pnre  chrome  yellow,  which  is  cheap¬ 
ened  by  admixture  with  carbonate  of  lead, 
barytes,  carbonate  of  lime,  and  China  clay. 
When  pnre,  it  is  a  body-color  to  the  last  de¬ 
gree,  possessing  a  wonderful  opacity  and  cov¬ 
ering  property,  and  also  retains  its  color  when 
exposed  to  the  light,  though  it  is  peculiarly 
sensitive  to  the  influence  of  gases.  Sulphu¬ 
retted  hydrogen  changes  it  in  the  same  man¬ 
ner  as  this  gas  changes  white  lead,  that  is,  by 
uniting  with  the  lead,  and  forming  a  sulphuret 
of  the  latter  metal. 

Cadmium  Yellow  ( sulpliuret  of  cadmium) 
is  one  of  the  recently-discovered  pigments, 
being  produced  from  the  metal  cadmium 
in  combination  with  sulphur.  It  is  used 
mostly  by  landscape-painters — chiefly  in  rep¬ 
resenting  gorgeous  sunsets.  It  is  the  most 


YELLOWS. 


113 


intensely  brilliant  of  any  known  yellow  pig¬ 
ment. 

Yellow  Ochee. — This  most  useful  and  in¬ 
dispensable  color  is  a  native  pigment,  and 
deposits  of  it,  varying  in  shade  and  fineness, 
are  found  in  various  localities.  (The  word 
ochre ,  in  its  original  sense,  signifies  pale,  but 
is  now  applied  indiscriminately  to  all  colored 
earths,  whether  yellow,  red,  brown,  or  black.) 
The  most  important  are  those  known  to  the 
trade  in  this  country  as  French  ochres,  and 
further  distinguished  as  Rochelle  ochre,  and 
Havre  ochre.  The  former  is  the  more  highly 
esteemed,  being  finer,  and  working  more 
smoothly  and  freely  under  the  brush.  In 
house-painting,  they  are  rarely  used  unmixed 
with  white,  as  the  pure  color,  when  in  oil, 
gives  a  rather  deep  yellow-brown  ;  but,  mixed 
with  white  in  varying  proportions,  fine,  soft 
yellow  drabs  are  produced,  and  pale  delicate 
cream  tints.  These  ochres  are  inflexibly  per¬ 
manent  in  color,  and  are  exceedingly  durable 
when  exposed  to  the  action  of  the  weather. 


114 


HOTJ  S  E-P  AINTIN  G. 


The  quantity  annually  imported  into  the 
United  States  is  about  three  thousand  casks, 
or  a  thousand  tons. 

Yellow  colors  are  distinguished  as  chrome 
yellow,  or  lemon,  brimstone,  corn  color,  straw 
color,  buff,  saffron  color,  golden,  canary,  ochre, 
and  orange. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


BROWN  PIGMENTS. 

As  lias  been  before  remarked,  the  natural 
brown  earth-paints  are,  to  a  certain  extent, 
more  brilliant  in  tint,  and  produce  clearer, 
purer  tones  of  color,  than  do  those  paints  which 
are  the  result  of  chemical  operation.  They 
are,  too,  as  a  rule,  inflexibly  permanent  and 
highly  transparent. 

Terra-de-Sienna  is  a  ferruginous  native 
pigment,  of  a  yellow-brown  hue,  produ¬ 
cing,  with  white,  bright  sunny  tints.  That 
known  in  commerce  as  Italian  sienna  is  the 
most  esteemed,  and  is,  in  fact,  the  only  ar¬ 
ticle  bearing  the  name  of  sienna  which  pos¬ 
sesses  any  intrinsic  value  as  a  paint.  The 
so-called  American  sienna  is  vastly  inferior, 
both  in  color  and  transparency.  Crude  or  raw 


116 


HOUS  E-P  ABSTTIN  G. 


sienna,  wlien  subjected  to  a  bigb  degree  of 
heat,  loses  its  yellow  complexion,  and  takes  on 
a  deep,  clear,  brown-red  hue,  retaining,  at  the 
same  time,  all  the  transparency  of  the  nnbnrnt 
material.  It  is  an  invaluable  pigment,  and  is 
extensively  used  in  every  department  of  paint¬ 
ing.  By  admixture  with  Homan  or  yellow 
oclire,  or  raw  sienna,  or  any  other  transparent 
yellow,  and  Antwerp  blue  or  indigo,  it  affords 
fine  olive  greens. 

Burnt  Sienna  is  a  rich,  transparent  brown- 
orange.  It  has  strong  coloring  properties,  and 
is  permanent  to  the  last  degree. 

Umbek. — Raw  umber  is  a  native  ochre, 
and  occurs  in  the  island  of  Cyprus.  It  is 
known  in  the  trade  as  Turkey  umber,  although 
a  great  portion  of  the  umber  sold  in  this  mar¬ 
ket  is  obtained  in  the  State  of  Virginia.  Gen¬ 
uine  Turkey  umber  is  a  soft,  brown  pigment, 
transparent  in  oil,  and  abounding  in  manga¬ 
nese,  from  the  presence  of  which  it  derives  its 
drying  property.  It  is  one  of  the  most  useful 
colors  in  the  stock  of  the  house-painter,  and 


BROWN  PIGMENTS. 


117 


is  much  used  in  graining,  and  in  producing, 
with  white,  pure  quaker-drabs  and  browns. 
With  blue,  it  affords  a  good  neutral  green, 
very  permanent. 

The  American  substitute  for  this  pigment 
seems  to  possess  none  of  the  properties  of  the 
genuine  article,  except  its  resemblance '  in 
color. 

Burnt  Umber  —  the  natural  umber  cal¬ 
cined — is  much  used  both  for  graining,  and 
for  making,  with  white,  clear,  warm  browns 
and  stone-colors.  No  pigment,  in  the  stock 
of  the  painter,  is  better  known  and  appre¬ 
ciated  than  this :  it  is  transparent  and  per¬ 
manent.  These  colors  (siennas  and  umbers) 
require  to  be  very  carefully  prepared  and 
finely  ground,  as  it  is  only  by  reducing  them 
to  the  last  degree  of  fineness  that  they  show 
their  true  colors. 

Van  Dyke  Brown. — This  useful  paint  is 
a  bituminous  earth  of  vegetable  origin.  The 
most  valuable  kinds  are  found  in  Germany. 
The  color  is  a  very  rich,  deep,  transparent 


118 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


brown.  It  is  a  favorite  color  with  many  ar¬ 
tists,  and  is  used  by  the  liouse-painter  mostly 
for  graining.  It  is  valueless  unless  very  finely 
ground.  Boiled  oil  should  be  used  in  grind¬ 
ing  this  pigment,  as  it  is  a  non-drier  to  the 
last  degree.  It  is  clear  in  its  pale  tints,  and 
deep  and  glowing  in  shadows ;  very  perma¬ 
nent. 

Spanish  Brown — a  coarse  native  ochre  of 
a  dull-brown  color,  of  dense  body,  suitable  for 
roof-painting  when  a  dark  color  is  required. 
There  are  other  browns,  as  sepia  (the  concrete 
gall  of  the  cuttle-fish),  mars  brown  (an  artifi¬ 
cial  umber),  Cassel  earth  (a  native  pigment), 
madder  browns,  etc.  These  are  used  princi¬ 
pally  by  artists  in  landscape  and  figure  paint¬ 
ing,  in  oil  and  water,  mostly,  however,  as 
water  colors. 

The  browns  are  called  broken  colors,  and 
known  as  brown,  russet,  red-brown,  or  horse- 
chestnut,  chestnut,  light  brown,  coffee  color, 
tawny,  sorrel  (horse),  and  puce. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


WHITING-  AND  PAHIS  WHITE. 

The  well-known  article,  common  whiting, 
is  produced  from  chalk.  Chalk  is  a  white, 
soft,  friable  carbonate  of  lime,  containing  more 
or  less  silicious  matter  and  other  impurities. 
These  impurities  are  removed  by  grinding  the 
chalk  under  a  heavy  edge  stone  which  slowly 
revolves  on  a  circular  bed.  The  bed  is  sur¬ 
rounded  by  a  water-tight  tank,  into  which 
flows  a  constant  stream  of  water.  The  par¬ 
ticles  of  the  crushed  materials,  agitated  by  the 
stone  in  its  motion,  are  temporarily  held  in 
suspension  by  the  water,  and  flow  off  with  it 
into  large  sunken  vats,  a  number  of  which, 
placed  side  by  side,  are  connected  by  troughs  ; 
the  overflow  of  the  first  vat  is  received  by 
its  nearest  neighbor,  and  so  on,  until  all  the 


120 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


vats  become  filled.  The  vat  farthest  from  the 
mill  will,  of  course,  contain  the  finest  deposit 
of  all,  from  the  fact  that  the  purer  material 
will  be  longest  held  in  suspension.  The  de¬ 
posited  mass,  when  of  proper  consistency,  is 
lifted  from  the  vats  and  thrown  upon  thick, 
roughly-shaped  blocks  of  chalk  which  absorb 
a  portion  of  the  water,  and  in  a  short  time  so 
harden  the  cakes  of  whiting  that  they  may  be 
handled.  They  are  then  taken  from  the  blocks 
and  dried,  by  exposure  to  the  air,  in  a  kind 
of  lattice  framework.  Paris  white  is  produced 
by  the  same  method,  but  the  material  used  is 
a  finer,  harder  kind  of  carbonate  of  lime. 
Paris  white  is  consumed  mostly  in  coating 
walls  and  ceilings  either  with  or  without  tint¬ 
ing.  Previous  to  the  late  war,  chalk  was  not 
subject  to  any  import  duty,  and  was  brought 
as  ballast  by  the  London  packet-ships.  At 
that  time  it  was  common  for  ship-owners  to 
pay  for  taking  the  chalk-ballast  from  the  side 
of  the  vessel,  so  that  the  cost  to  the  whiting 
manufacturers  was  really  nothing.  During 


WHITING  AND  PAKIS  WHITE. 


121 


tlie  war  the  price  of  chalk  was  at  one  time  as 
high  as  forty  dollars  per  ton,  and  large  for¬ 
tunes  were  in  some  instances  realized  by  the 
lucky  holders  of  large  stocks  of  this  material. 
The  annual  consumption  of  whiting  and  Paris 
white  in  the  United  States  is  enormous — not 
less,  probably,  than  eighty  thousand  barrels, 
equal  to  about  thirty  millions  of  pounds. 

6 


CHAPTER  XX. 


OILS. 

Oils  are  divided  into  two  great  classes: 
the  fat  or  fixed  oils,  and  the  volatile  oils.  Lin¬ 
seed-oil  is  a  very  good  example  of  the  former 
class,  and  oil  of  turpentine  (spirits  of  turpen¬ 
tine  erroneously  called),  of  the  latter. 

These  two  fulfil  all  the  requirements  of 
the  house-painter,  and  are  the  only  ones  of 
any  particular  importance  in  the  trade.  All 
fixed  oils  and  fatty  substances,  whatever  their 
origin,  possess  the  same  ultimate  constituents, 
and  mostly  in  like  proportions,  and  differ  hut 
little  in  specific  gravity.  That  is,  the  weight 
in  proportion  to  the  bulk  is  nearly  the  same 
in  all.  The  extremes  being  0.96  for  castor-oil, 
and  0.89  for  cocoa-butter.  The  specific  grav¬ 
ity  of  linseed-oil  is  0.934.  Supposing  a  cubic 


OILS. 


123 


foot  of  water  to  weigh  one  thousand  ounces, 
the  same  hulk  of  linseed-oil  will  weigh-  nine 
hundred  and  thirty-four  ounces. 

Linseed-oil  was  formerly  measured  by  the 
gauging-rod,  in  this  country,  hut  now  by 
weight,  seven  and  a  half  pounds  being  the 
standard  of  weight  for  the  measure  of  a  gallon. 

Certain  oils,  in  contact  with  the  air,  under¬ 
go  progressive  changes ;  they  thicken,  and 
eventually  dry  into  a  transparent,  yellowish, 
elastic  substance  which,  after  very  long  ex¬ 
posure,  becomes  hard  and  brittle.  Linseed-oil 
seems  to  possess  this  property  in  a  greater  de¬ 
gree  than  any  other,  and  from  this  derives  its 
value  in  the  preparation  of  varnishes  and 
painters’  colors.  Many  of  the  fixed  oils  pos¬ 
sess  this  siccative  or  drying  property ;  par¬ 
ticularly  those  extracted  from  seeds  and  nuts. 
Some  of  the  animal  oils  also  possess  it  in  a 
greater  or  less  degree,  but  linseed  is  the  only 
article  which  gives  oil  possessing  this  property 
in  sufficient  quantities  for  general  use. 

The  cause  of  this  change  from  liquid  to 


124 


HOUSE-PAINTING-. 


solid  is  brought  about  by  absorption  of  oxy¬ 
gen  from  the  atmosphere,  it  being  purely  a 
chemical  process,  and  not  the  result  simply  of 
evaporation,  as  some  suppose.  This  drying 
property  in  oil  may  be  greatly  increased  by 
boiling  the  same  in  connection  with  certain 
metallic  oxides,  such  as  red  lead  and  litharge. 
These  articles  only,  were  in  former  times  used 
for  this  purpose ;  but  of  late,  the  black  oxide  of 
manganese  is  extensively  used.  Turkey  umber 
also,  to  a  certain  extent,  is  employed  by  var¬ 
nish-makers,  for  this  purpose ;  but  that  article 
derives  its  drying  property  from  the  presence 
of  the  last-named  oxide.  A  varnish,  made  by 
dissolving  gum-shellac  in  linseed-oil  and  tur¬ 
pentine,  was  formerly  used  almost  exclusively 
for  facilitating  the  drying  of  paint,  but  has 
mainly  given  place  to  a  combination  of  metal¬ 
lic  oxides,  known  to  the  trade  as  “  Patent 
Dryer,”  which  seems  to  answer  a  better  pur¬ 
pose  than  any  thing  yet  discovered. 

Linseed-oil  is  obtained  from  flaxseed,  by 
grinding  the  same  under  heavy  stones  set  on 


OILS. 


125 


edge,  and  made  to  revolve  on  beds  of  stone. 
Attached  to  the  edge  stone  are  scrapers,  which 
throw  the  seed  into  the  circular  track  of  the 
roller.  The  ground  seed  is  placed  in  strong, 
woven,  woollen  bags,  which  bags  are  covered 
with  mats  made  of  horse-hair  and  sole-leather, 
of  a  proper  and  sufficient  width  to  protect  the 
bags  in  the  operation  of  pressing.  These  mats 
with  their  contents  are  subjected  to  an  immense 
hydraulic  pressure,  and  the  expressed  oil  flows 
off  into  large  iron  tanks,  where  it  is  allowed 
to  settle.  What  remains  in  the  bags  after  the 
pressure  is  known  as  oil-cake.  The  great 
bulk  of  this  article  is  exported  to  England, 
where  it  is  sold  as  food  for  cattle.  The  fol¬ 
lowing  figures  will  convey  an  idea  of  the  enor¬ 
mous  amount  of  linseed-oil  used  in  the  United 
States :  There  were  imported  into  this  coun¬ 
try,  in  the  year  1867,  2,000,000  bushels  of 
linseed — mostly  from  Calcutta — which  would 
give  four  million  gallons  of  oil.  The  home 
product  of  flaxseed  (or  linseed)  for  the  year 
is  estimated  at  from  1,750,000  to  2,000,000 


HOUS  E-PAIN  TING. 


126 

bushels,  affording,  at  the  lowest  estimate, 
3,500,000  gallons  of  oil — making  a  total  of 
7,500,000  gallons— most  of  which  is  consumed 
at  home.  In  addition  to  this,  there  were  im¬ 
ported  from  England  250,000  gallons  of  lin¬ 
seed  oil,  making  a  grand  total  of  say  8,000,000 
gallons. 

Admitting  the  correctness  of  the  theory 
heretofore  advanced,  that  the  consumption  of 
paint  affords  the  best  standard  whereby  to 
measure  the  progress  of  a  people  in  the  best 
civilization,  it  must  be  admitted  that  we  are 
marching  with  rapid  strides  in  that  path. 

Adulteration  of  Oil. — The  adulteration 
of  linseed-oil  is  practised  to  a  very  great  ex¬ 
tent,  in  this  country,  at  the  present  day — 
probably  more  so  than  at  any  former  period. 
The  high  price  which  this  article  has  borne 
since  the  second  year  of  the  war,  in  compari¬ 
son  with  some  of  the  less  useful  oils,  has  stim¬ 
ulated  the  ingenuity  of  men  of  an  inventive 
genius,  to  mix  the  articles,  and  sell  the  mix¬ 
ture  under  the  name  of  the  most  respectable 


OILS. 


127 


of  tlie  two  oily  copartners.  As  before  said, 
the  comparative  bigli  price  of  linseed-oil  has 
rendered  the  process  of  adulteration  profitable, 
even  when  the  proportion  of  the  cheaper  ma¬ 
terial  amounts  to  but  a  small  percentage  of 
the  mixture.  For  example,  supposing  the 
market  price  of  linseed-oil  to  be  one  dollar 
and  fifty  cents  per  gallon— which  would  be  a 
fair  average  of  prices  during  the  last  three  or 
four  years — the  substitution  of  only  ten  per 
cent.,  or  four  gallons  to  the  barrel  of  forty 
gallons,  of  an  oil  the  market  value  of  which 
is  only  sixty  cents  per  gallon,  gives  a  profit  of 
three  dollars  and  twenty  cents ;  an  enormous 
profit  on  an  article  of  such  general  and  certain 
demand,  and  which  is  sold  at  wholesale  ordi¬ 
narily  at  a  merely  nominal  profit. 

The  adulteration,  by  mixing  with  inferior 
oils,  is  carried  to  a  greater  extent  in  boiled 
than  in  crude  oil,  as  the  liability  to  detection 
is  much  less  with  the  former. 

There  are  various  tests  for  determining  the 
purity  of  oil,  but,  unfortunately,  those  which 


128 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


are  tlie  most  reliable  are  of  no  practical  value 
to  tlie  painter.  The  application  of  a  few  drops 
of  sulphuric  acid  to  a  film  of  the  oil  to  he 
tested,  on  a  piece  of  glass,  is  a  good  method  of 
ascertaining  its  purity ;  but  this  involves  a 
knowledge  of  the  peculiar  effects  of  this  acid 
upon  the  different  oils.  A  simpler  method, 
but  less  reliable,  is  to  heat  the  oil,  when  the 
presence  of  another  oil  may  be  detected  by 
the  odor  which  exhales.  Specific  gravity  also 
is  a  good  criterion.  The  instrument  used  for 
determining  the  gravity  of  oil  is  called  an 
oleometer,  which  is  graduated  to  sink  to  zero  in 
a  certain  oil  raised  to  the  temperature  of  boil¬ 
ing  water.  Linseed-oil  is  the  most  dense  of  any 
of  the  fixed  or  fat  oils,  with  the  single  excep¬ 
tion  of  castor-oil  ;  therefore,  an  oleometer 
graduated  to  sink  to  zero  in  pure  linseed-oil, 
would  of  course  sink  lower  in  linseed-oil  which 
contained  fish-oil,  or  any  of  the  oils  of  less 
specific  gravity,  and  the  measure  of  adultera¬ 
tion  would  be  shown  by  the  figures  on  the 
stem  of  the  instrument. 


OILS. 


129 


Tlie  presence  of  fish-oil  in  linseed-oil  may 
be  detected  by  agitation  with  a  little  chlorine 
gas,  which  blackens  the  animal  oil,  but  has 
little  or  no  effect  on  the  vegetable  oil.  Un¬ 
fortunately,  these  modes  of  testing  are  trouble¬ 
some,  and  involve  a  certain  outlay  of  time  and 
money.  The  best  inexpensive  and  ready  test 
which  the  writer  can  suggest,  is  to  put  a  few 
drops  of  the  suspected  oil  in  the  palm  of  the 
hand,  and  then  rub  the  palms  of  the  two  hands 
briskly  together ;  after  this  has  continued  a 
minute,  by  applying  the  hand  to  the  nose,  the 
presence  of  fish-oil  will  reveal  itself  by  its 
peculiar  odor.  These  directions  are  of  little 
value  to  those  who  conduct  business  in  the 
large  cities,  and  who  can  purchase  their  stock 
of  oil  directly  from  the  crushers  of  seed ;  but 
it  is  hoped  they  may  be  useful  to  those  who 
are  remote  from  the  place  of  manufacture,  and 
who  must  ordinarily  purchase  from  second  or 
third  hands. 

Oil  of  Turpentine. — This  indispensable 
article,  known  to  the  trade  as  spirits  of  turpen- 


130  house-paestthstg. 

* 

tine,  is  obtained  by  distilling  tlie  sap  which 
flows  from  that  species  of  tlie  pine  known  as 
Pinus  australis ,  or  long-leaved  pine,  which 
grows  in  great  abundance  on  the  coasts  of 
North  Carolina  and  Georgia.  The  turpentine 
is  procured  by  tapping  the  tree  at  first  near 
the  ground,  with  an  axe  made  for  the  purpose. 
From  one  to  three  box-like  cuttings  are  made 
in  a  tree,  having  a  capacity  each  of  two  or 
three  pints.  The  sap,  which  runs  from  the  tree 
only  in  warm  weather,  begins  to  flow  freely  in 
March,  and  is  dipped  out  from  the  boxes  with  a 
peculiar-shaped  ladle,  and  deposited  in  barrels. 
The  sap  hardens  on  exposure,  and  soon  forms 
a  coating  on  the  surface  of  the  wood,  which 
stops  the  flow.  This  surface  must  be  removed 
occasionally  to  renew  the  flow  of  the  sap. 
Formerly,  the  bulk  of  the  turpentine  produced 
in  North  Carolina  was  exported  in  a  crude 
state  for  distillation  in  the  North,  but  now  the 
principal  portion  is  distilled  in  the  State,  the 
larger  proprietors  having  stills  of  their  own. 
These  are  not  unlike  the  stills  used  for  the 


OILS. 


131 


distillation  of  spirits  from  grain  and  other 
substances,  and  have  a  capacity  of  from  five  to 
twenty  barrels  each.  After  the  turpentine  is 
drawn  off,  the  residuum  forms  the  common 
rosin  of  commerce. 

When  the  trees  are  no  longer  profitable  for 
their  yield  of  turpentine,  they  are  felled,  cut 
up,  and  charred  in  kilns,  producing  tar  which, 
by  boiling,  is  concentrated  into  pitch.  The 
yearly  average  product  of  one  acre  of  turpen¬ 
tine  forest  is  from  twelve  to  sixteen  bar¬ 
rels  of  crude  turpentine,  which  yield-  about 
two  barrels  of  spirits  of  turpentine  and  eight 
of  rosin. 

The  statistics  of  the  turpentine  product, 
always  difficult  to  obtain,  are  more  so  now 
than  formerly.  Before  the  war,  the  estimated 
annual  product  of  North  Carolina  was  800,000 
barrels  of  crude  turpentine,  equal  to  about 
115,000  barrels  of  spirits  of  turpentine,  and 
450,000  barrels  of  rosin. 

Oil  of  turpentine  is  a  most  important,  in¬ 
deed  indispensable  article  in  house  and  other 


132 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


kinds  of  painting,  but  it  requires  to  be  bandied 
with  skill  and  judgment.  As  a  rule,  too 
muck  of  it  is  used  in  exterior  work,  and  not 
enough  in  interior  work.  Wlien  used  to  any 
considerable  extent  for  exposed  situations,  it 
impairs  the  water-proof  property  of  the  paint, 
and  consequently  its  durability.  Colors  mixed 
entirely  with  turpentine  are  but  little  more 
durable  than  water-colors.  In  the  prepara¬ 
tory  coats  for  dark-grained  work,  such  as  outer 
doors  and  vestibules,  when  a  finishing  coat  of 
varnish  is  applied,  the  proportion  of  turpen¬ 
tine  should  be  as  great  as  possible ;  such  work, 
being  exposed  to  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun, 
becomes  so  heated  that  it  is  very  apt  to  blis¬ 
ter,  whereby  the  best  job  will  be  completely 
spoiled.  The  remedy  for  this  state  of  things 
is  expensive  and  troublesome,  it  being  no  less 
than  the  entire  removal  of  all  the  paint,  either 
by  washing  with  powerful  alkalies,  or  by  the 
application  of  a  high  degree  of  heat,-  and 
scraping.  Such  a  result  can  be  prevented 
only  by  using  as  little  oil  as  may  be,  to  spread 


OILS. 


133 


the  paint  evenly,  and  finishing  with  the  best 
attainable  coach-body  varnish. 

For  interiors,  turpentine  is  used  in  the 
finishing  coat  almost  entirely,  for  the  reasons 
that  clearer,  purer  tints  are  attainable  than 
with  linseed-oil,  that  the  paint  does  not  dis¬ 
color  so  quickly,  and  the  flat,  dead  finish  which 
it  produces  conceals,  by  its  lesser  reflective 
power,  the  irregularities  and  imperfections  of 
the  surface. 

Spirits  of  turpentine  dissolves  all  resinous 
substances,  and  is  a  very  good  solvent  for  In¬ 
dia  rubber. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


THE  ACTION  OF  LINSEED-OIL  UPON  PAINTS. 

Of  all  the  fixed  and  fatty  oils,  linseed-oil, 
when  not  exposed  to  the  atmosphere,  under¬ 
goes  the  least  change  of  condition.  It  does 
not  become  rancid  and  emit  an  unpleasant 
odor,  as  do  the  animal  oils ;  nor  does  it  thicken 
and  become  viscid,  as  do  some  of  the  vegetable 
oils.  It  remains  limpid  under  all  ordinary 
temperatures^md  does  not  congeal  till  cooled 
from  4°  to  18°  below  Fahrenheit. 

All  these  qualities  fit  it  admirably  to  serve 
as  a  vehicle  for  mixing  and  spreading  paints. 
It  has  no  effect  on  paints  except  simply  to 
darken  the  shade  or  tint  and  render  them  less 
opaque.  This  is  shown  by  mixing  whiting  or 
Paris  white  with  oil.  These  substances  are, 
when  dry,  to  all  appearance  as  opaque  as 


ACTION  OF  LINSEED-OIL  UPON  PAINTS.  135 


wliite  lead;  but  when  wet  with  oil  they  be¬ 
come  semi-transparent,  and  assume  a  yellow¬ 
ish  tint.  The  effect  is  the  same  precisely 
as  to  saturate  white  writing-paper  with  oil. 
It  loses  its  opacity  and  becomes  transparent. 
(This  word  is  used  in  its  common  and  not  in 
its  technical  sense.)  White  lead,  from  its 
wonderful  opacity  in  body,  is  not  thus  affected, 
and  from  this  property  it  derives  its  chief 
value  as  a  pigment.  In  no  other  respect  does 
linseed-oil  have  the  slightest  effect  on  the 
paint  when  mixed  with  it. 

No  possible  preparation  of  the  oil  can 
change  the  nature  of  the  pigments  which  are 
put  into  it.  Within  the  last  ten  years  it  has 
become  the  custom  of  the  trade  to  mix  white 
paint  for  grinding  in  oil  which  has  undergone 
the  bleaching  process.  This  operation  of 
bleaching  is  performed  either  by  subjecting 
the  oil  to  a  certain  degree  of  heat,  or  by  treat¬ 
ing  it  with  acid  and  afterward  washing  with 
steam. 

In  either  of  these  processes  the  oil  precipi- 


136 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


tates  a  portion  of  its  coloring  matter  and  as¬ 
sumes  a  paler  tint ;  otherwise  it  undergoes  no 
change,  and,  economically  considered,  the 
operation  is  a  losing  one,  there  being  a  de¬ 
crease  of  bulk,  writli  no  corresponding  gain  in 
quality ;  added  cost,  with  no  improvement  in 
either  the  water-proof  or  siccative  property  of 
the  oil.  dSTo  pigment  is  improved,  either  in 
density,  covering  property,  or  tint,  by  being 
mixed  with  linseed  or  other  oil. 

Some  of  the  greens  and  blues,  it  is  true, 
assume  a  darker  hue  on  being  mixed  ;  but 
this  is  equivalent  to  varnishing.  A  better  re¬ 
sult  still  is  produced  by  mixing  them  in  water 
or  turpentine,  and  afterward  applying  a  coat 
of  varnish.  What  the  writer  washes  to  enforce, 
is  the  fact,  that  no  possible  preparation  of  oil 
can  impart  a  value  to  materials  which  of 
themselves  are  valueless. 

The  material  used  for  adulterating  paints 
is  of  itself  utterly  and  totally  wdthout  value  as 
a  pigment,  and  it  only  becomes  in  a  degree 
respectable  from  its  association  with  materials 


ACTION  OF  LINSEED-OIL  UPON  PAINTS.  137 

wliick  are  intrinsically  valuable.  The  oil 
which  is  used  to  spread  it  cannot  improve  it, 
or  change  its  nature. 

To  speak  of  oil  as  the  base  of  paint  is  the 
veriest  nonsense.  With  as  much  propriety 
may  it  he  said  that  water  is  the  base  of  pig¬ 
ments  which  are  used  as  water-colors,  as  that 
oil  is  the  base  of  oil-paints.  Water  would  be 
the  better  menstruum  for  paints,  if  some  pro¬ 
cess  could  be  discovered  of  rendering  water- 
color  painting  water-proof.  Tarnish,  cer¬ 
tainly,  does  this,  but  varnished  work  is  not 
suitable  for  interiors ;  it  produces  a  shiny, 
cheap,  tawdry  appearance,  and  reveals  all  the 
irregularities  on  the  surface  of  walls  and  wood¬ 
work  which  it  is  most  desirable  to  conceal. 
Tor  outside  work  varnish  is  unsuited,  because 
it  will  not  resist  the  action  of  atmospheric  in¬ 
fluences.  It  cracks,  grows  rusty,  and  requires 
frequent  renewal.  An  oil,  to  be  perfectly 
adapted  to  the  requirements  of  the  painter, 
must  possess  the  property  of  drying  quickly, 
without  stickiness,  must  be  inodorous  (or  at 


138 


HOUSE- PAINTING. 


least  free  from  any  unpleasant  odor),  colorless, 
limpid — must  not  congeal,  except  at  very  low 
temperatures,  must  not  discolor  or  turn  yel¬ 
low  when  not  exposed  to  the  light,  and  must 
be  entirely  water-proof.  IVhen  an  oil,  either 
vegetable  or  animal,  fulfilling  all  these  con¬ 
ditions  better  than  linseed-oil,  shall  he  found, 
and  can  be  furnished  in  sufficient  quantity  at 
a  price  no  greater  than  the  average  price  of 
the  oil  produced  from  the  seed  of  the  flax- 
plant,  the  finder  may  cry,  “  Eureka !  ”  So  far, 
no  unctuous  oil,  except  the  oil  of  linseed,  has 
been  discovered,  which  possesses  any  two  of 
the  above-named  necessary  properties  com¬ 
bined  with  the  first,  which  does  not  exceed  the 
latter  so  far  in  cost  of  production  as  to  render 
its  common  use  altogether  impracticable. 

The  flax-plant  should  have  a  prominent 
place  in  the  coat-of-arms  of  the  guild  of  the 
liouse-painters,  for  without  it  the  trade  would 
hardly  have  had  an  existence. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


VAUNISHES. 

Except  to  gratify  a  laudable  curiosity, 
or  to  satisfy  a  thirst  for  knowledge,  the  de¬ 
tails  of  the  mode  of  operation,  in  the  manu¬ 
facture  of  varnish,  are  of  no  benefit  to  the 
house-painter  or  to  the  public.  Time  was, 
when  a  practical  knowledge  of  varnish-mak¬ 
ing  was  known  to  the  few,  and  formulas  or 
recipes  for  producing  the  various  kinds  of 
varnishes  and  japans  were  held  in  high  es¬ 
teem,  and  had  a  certain  value.  To-day  the 
business  of  manufacturing  varnish  has  in¬ 
creased  to  enormous  proportions.  So  great 
is  the  amount  of  capital  employed,  and  the 
skill  developed  by  competition  in  the  effort 
to  produce  the  best  article  for  a  given  price, 
that  to  make  varnish  in  small  quantities,  in 


140 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


a  domestic  way,  is  altogether  impracticable. 
There  are  how  no  varnishes  used  in  house- 
painting  (with  a  single  exception  which  will 
he  mentioned  hereafter)  which  can  he  profit¬ 
ably  manufactured  at  home.  Ordinarily,  the 
cost  of  material  alone  would  he  as  much  or 
more  than  would  he  the  cost  of  a  better  var¬ 
nish  than  could  under  any  circumstances  be 
produced  by  one  not  skilled  in  the  proper 
manipulation  of  the  materials,  and  lacking 
the  appliances  necessary  to  produce,  the  best 
results. 

The  exception  before  mentioned  is  the 
white  lac-varnish  used  for  covering  the  knots, 
and  pitchy  and  discolored  spots,  which  occur 
in  all  new  pine-wood  work. 

This  is  made  simply  by  dissolving  bleached 
shellac  in  alcohol,  in  the  proportion  of  two 
pounds  of  the  former  to  one  gallon  of  the 
latter.  More  or  less  of  the  gum  may  be 
used  to  give  the  required  strength.  The 
varnish  is  easily  diluted  by  the  addition  of 
alcohol,  or  made  stronger  by  the  addition 


VARNISHES. 


141 


of  more  sliellac.  (In  cases  where  color  is 
not  important,  the  ordinary  unbleached  shel¬ 
lac  will  answer,  and  the  cost  is  much  less.) 

It  is  most  readily  prepared  in  a  tin  can 
or  bottle,  which  requires  occasional  shaking 
during  the  process.  A  gentle  heat  facilitates 
the  operation.  It  may  be  prepared  in  greater 
or  less  quantity,  and  rendered  perfectly  trans¬ 
parent  by  passing  it  through  a  filter  paper.  It 
then  becomes  the  best  possible  varnish  for 
pictures.  The  alcohol  must  he  of  a  strength 
of  ninety-five  per  cent. 

Mastic  Tarnish  is  made  by  dissolving 
gum-mastic  in  spirits  of  turpentine.  Of  a 
certain  strength,  this  varnish  thickens  linseed- 
oil,  and  makes  what  is  called  megilp. 

The  varnishes  used  by  the  house-painter 
are  made  by  melting  gum-copal  at  a  high 
degree  of  heat,  and  adding  thereto  linseed-oil 
and  spirits  of  turpentine  in  certain  proportions. 

Copal  (. Mexican  Copalli ),  a  generic  name 
of  resins,  is  the  concrete  juice  of  certain 
trees  growing  mostly  in  the  East  Indies. 


142 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


It  is  hard,  shining,  transparent,  yellowish- 
colored,  inodorous,  resembling  amber ;  strictly 
it  is  neither  a  gum  nor  a  resin  :  not  being 
soluble  in  water  as  are  the  gums,  nor  in  al¬ 
cohol  as  are  the  resins. 

The  most  useful  and  valuable  is  that 
which  comes  from  the  Mozambique  country, 
and  is  known  in  commerce  as  Zanzibar  gum. 

This  copal,  it  is  said,  is  dug  out  of  the 
sand,  and  not  a  vestige  or  trace  of  the  tree 
which  produced  it  is  visible  in  the  places 
where  it  is  found.  Geologists  are  agreed 
that  this  substance  is  of  antediluvian  origin. 

The  copal  nest  in  value  to  the  Zanzibar 
gum,  is  known  in  trade  as  Beuguela  gum. 
An  inferior  gum  called  Kowrie  is  now  much 
used  by  varnish-makers. 

Bosin  also  is  used  by  some  manufacturers 
in  cheapening  varnish.  It  is,  however,  at  best 
a  poor  substitute  for  copal,  and  the  safe 
course  for  consumers  of  varnish  to  pursue  is 
to  buy  only  from  well-known  and  responsible 
parties. 


VARNISHES. 


143 


-Gum-copal  expands  on  melting  by  heat, 
and  on  exposure  to  the  air  has  a  tendency 
to  shrink  to  its  original  bulk.  This  causes 
the  surface  to  crack,  and  quite  spoils  the  ef¬ 
fect  of  the  best  grained  work.  (The  art  of 
imitating  colored  wood  by  painting  is  called 
by  painters  Graining.)  The  best  possible 
piece  of  work  of  this  kind  may  be  completely 
spoiled  by  the  application  of  a  coat  of  poor, 
cheap  varnish.  The  only  remedy  is  to  begin 
anew  and  have  the  work  all  done  over  again. 

“  Quick-drying  ”  varnishes  are  not  suited 
to  the  varnishing  of  painted  work.  Those 
known  as  coach  or  carriage  varnishes  only 
should  be  used.  Good  coach-varnish  may 
be  mixed  with  pure  boiled  linseed-oil,  in  the 
proportion  of  three  parts  of  the  former  to  one 
of  the  latter,  to  good  advantage.  The  oil 
renders  the  varnish  more  elastic,  and  prevents 
its  hardening  to  the  point  of  cracking. 

Best  Coach -Body  Yarnish.  —  The  best 
coach-varnish  is  made  by  melting,  in  a  cop¬ 
per  kettle  made  for  the  purpose,  best  Zan- 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


Iff 

zibar  gum,  and  adding  gradually  thereto  pre¬ 
pared  linseed-oil,  lieated  to  about  350  degrees, 
in  the  proportion  of  about  three  pounds  of 
gum  to  one  gallon  of  oil. 

These  are  boiled  together  for  a  time,  and 
then  allowed  to  cool  partially.  Spirits  of 
turpentine  is  then  added  in  quantity  about 
equal  to  the  oil,  previously  stirred  into  the 
melted  gum.  This  varnish  improves  by  age, 
and  should  not  be  used  sooner  than  five  or 
six  months. 

Best  Carriage -Varnish. —  This  differs 
from  the  coach-body  varnish  only  in  the  use 
of  a  less  quantity  of  oil  and  turpentine  in 
proportion  to  the  quantity  of  gum  and  the 
greater  quantity  of  turpentine  in  proportion 
to  the  oil.  The  mode  of  operation  is  the 
same. 

Inside,  or  Furniture  Varnish. — Quick¬ 
drying  varnishes  for  rubbing  and  polishing 
are  made  usually  from  mixed  gums,  gum- 
kowrie  entering  largely  into  the  composition 
of  some  of  them — the  proportion  of  linseed- 


VARNISHES. 


145 


oil  and  spirits  of  turpentine  being  about  one 
of  the  former  to  three  or  four  of  the  latter. 

White  Demar  Tarnish. — This  varnish, 
which  is  used  mostly  with  white  zinc  for 
producing  what  is  called  “  gloss  ”  or  u  porce¬ 
lain  finish,”  may  be  made  by  dissolving 
gum-Demar  in  cold  spirits  of  turpentine  in 
the  proportion  of  about  five  pounds  of  gum 
to  one  gallon  of  turpentine;  a  gentle  heat 
however,  hastens  the  operation  of  solving  the 
gum,  and  possibly  produces  a  better  result. 

Black;  Japan  Tarnish. — This  article  is 
used  for  hardware  generally,  and  is  composed 
of  asphaltum,  copal,— -either  Zanzibar  or  Ben- 
guela, — prepared  linseed-oil,  turpentine,  and 
benzine.  This  varnish  must  be  dried  by  heat, 
and  is  called  “Baking  Japan.” 

A  so-called  self-drying  japan  is  made  of 
asphaltum  by  itself,  without  the  addition  of 
copal.  This  is  used  on  trunks  and  articles 
where  it  is  not  convenient  or  practicable  to 
apply  artificial  heat. 

The  latter  varnish,  reduced  with  spirits 
1 


HOTTSE-PAINTING. 


14-6 

of  turpentine,  makes  what  is  known  as  black- 
walnut  stain.  Rosewood  stain  is  a  solution 
of  extract  of  logwood  in  alcohol  in  propor¬ 
tions  to  meet  the  taste ;  about  four  pounds 
of  extract  to  a  gallon  of  alcohol  is  generally 
used. 

Gold  Lacquer  is  made  by  dissolving 
shellac-gum,  sandarach,  and  crude  turpentine 
in  alcohol.  This  varnish  is  colored  by  the 
addition  of  an  alcoholic  solution  of  gamboge 
and  alkanet-root  in  proportions  to  produce 
the  desired  tint. 

French  Polish  is  made  by  dissolving 
bleached  shellac  in  alcohol  in  equal  propor¬ 
tions  by  weight.  It  is  applied  with  a  pad 
made  of  a  wad  of  cotton- wool  wrapped  in  a 
linen  rag.  The  pad  must  first  be  dipped 
in  raw  linseed-oil,  then  into  the  varnish,  and 
rubbed  quickly  on  the  work.  The  operation 
of  French  polishing  requires  great  skill  and 
dexterity  in  the  manipulation  to  produce  a 
good  result. 

In  closing  this  chapter  on  varnish,  the 


VAJRNISHES. 


147 


writer  would  again  call  tlie  attention  of  tlie 
consumer  to  tlie  importance  of  using  great 
care  in  the  selection  of  the  same.  The  appli¬ 
cation  of  varnish  is  the  finishing  touch  to 
the  work,  and  a  coat  of  poor  varnish  may 
waste  all  the  previously  expended  labor  and 
material. 

As  a  rule,  buy  only  of  makers  of  known 
reputation,  who  cannot  afford  to  use  inferior 
materials. 

All  the  gum  consumed  by  varnish-makers 
in  the  manufacture  of  the  various  kinds  of 
varnishes,  is  the  production  of  foreign  coun¬ 
tries,  there  having  been  as  yet  none  of  this 
material  discovered  within  the  limits  of  the 
United  States. 

The  quantity  imported  in  the  year  1867, 
including  asphaltum  (which  is  used  in  making 
the  black  varnishes),  was  not  probably  short 
of  four  millions  of  pounds.  The  quantity  of 
oil  necessary  to  convert  this  amount  of  gum 
into  varnish  would  be  about  two  hundred 
and  seventy-five  thousand  gallons  of  linseed- 


148 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


oil,  and  about  one  million  gallons  of  oil  of 
turpentine  and  benzine,  wliicb  would  produce 
about  two  million  gallons  of  varnish,  equal  to 
fifty  thousand  barrels  of.  forty  gallons  each. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


PREPARATION  OF  WORK  FOR  PAINTING. 

In  preparing  work  for  painting,  too  muck 
care  cannot  be  exercised,  as  succeeding  coats 
and  the  final  result  depend  very  muck  on  tke 
proper  condition  of  tke  work  wken  tke  prim¬ 
ing  coat  is  applied.  Pirst,  all  tke  rougk  places 
in  tke  wood  should  be  rubbed  down  with  a 
block  covered  with  sandpaper ;  and  the  mould¬ 
ings  and  beads  should  be  well  cleaned  out 
with  sandpaper.  Then  (and  this  is  a  matter 
of  prime  importance),  every  knot,  however 
small,  every  indication  of  sap  on  tke  wood,  or 
discoloration  of  any  kind,  and  every  appear¬ 
ance  of  pitch  or  gum,  should  be  carefully  var¬ 
nished  over  with  white  shellac  varnish,  if  the 
work  is  to  be  finished  in  white  or  light  tints — 


150 


nOUSE-PArNTESTG. 


or  with  varnish  made  from  unbleached  or 
common  shellac,  if  the  work  is  to  be  finished 
in  dark  shades.  The  common  shellac,  in  the 
latter  case,  answers  equally  well  with  the 
bleached  article,  and  at  less  cost.  This  should 
not,  under  any  circumstances,  be  neglected, 
as  it  is  impossible,  in  the  nature  of  things, 
otherwise  to  make  °-ood  work. 

O 

When  work  is  to  be  finished  with  two 
coats,  the  putty  used  for  stopping  the  nail- 
heads  and  other  indentations,  should  be  made 
of  white  lead,  worked  up  with  common  whit¬ 
ing  to  the  proper  consistency,  and  the  filling 
should  be  done  after  the  first  coat  shall  have 
become  well  dried.  When  more  than  two 
coats  are  to  be  applied,  the  filling  should  be 
done  between  the  first  and  second  coats,  with 
ordinary  pure  linseed-oil  putty. 

It  should  be  adopted  as  a  rule,  never  to 
apply  pure  white  as  a  priming  coat ;  no  matter 
whether  the  work  is  to  be  finished  with  one 
or  four  coats,  the  result  will  always  be  more 
satisfactory  if  the  first  coat  be  stained.  A 


PREPARATION  FOR  PAINTING. 


151 


little  finely-ground  lamp  black  answers  as  well 
for  this  as  any  tiling. 

The  only  way  to  produce  solid,  uniform 
work,  is  by  making  every  succeeding  coat 
lighter  in  tint  than  tlie  one  wbicli  preceded  it. 
This  is  specially  tlie  case  with  walls,  and  other 
extended  flat  surfaces.  No  matter  wliat  the 
finish  is  to  he,  the  first  coat  should  always  he 
clarlcer  than  the  one  which  succeeds  it ;  and 
the  darker  the  shade  of  the  finishing  coat,  tlie 
more  important  it  is  that  this  rule  should  be 
observed.  If  the  work  is  to  be  finished  with 
black,  prime  with  black.  If  with  green,  let 
that  be  the  color  of  all  the  preceding  coats. 
If  with  blue,  let  that  color  be  the  ground¬ 
work.  What  can  be  more  stupid  than  apply¬ 
ing  to  work  which  is  to  be  finished  in  imita¬ 
tion  of  black-walnut  a  priming  coat  of  white  ? 
All  work  should  he  primed  especially  with 
regard  to  the  finishing  color. 

There  is  not  half  enough  of  dark  colors 
used  in  priming  applications.  Venetian  red, 
finely  ground  in  boiled  oil,  deeply  stained 


152 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


with  black — and  used  very  thin,  in  order  to 
stain  the  wood  as  much  as  possible — is  the 
best  first  coat  for  work  which  is  to  he  finished 
in  imitation  of  black-walnut  or  other  dark 
wood.  The  succeeding  coats  should  be  as 
dark  as  may  he  with  a  view  to  the  proper 
shade  of  ground-work  for  the  graining.  In 
such  case,  if  (as  must  happen  in  the  ordinary 
com’se  of  events)  the  work  becomes  bruised  or 
“  chipped  ” — by  an  accidental  knock  from  a 
chair-leg  or  other  article  of  house  furniture — 
the  general  appearance  of  it  is  little  impaired 
thereby.  Quite  the  contrary,  however,  is  the 
case  if  the  underneath  coats  are  white.  Then, 
an  accident  of  the  kind  before  mentioned, 
shows  a  white  spot,  which  staringly  proclaims 
the  work  to  he  a  delusion  and  a  sham.  Dark 
colors,  too,  as  the  Venetian  red  before  men¬ 
tioned,  make  better  foundations  than  white 
lead  or  zinc.  They  dry  harder  and  “  rub  ” 
better,  and,  what  is  most  important,  cost  less. 

This  matter  having  been  duly  considered, 
let  us  now  proceed  to  the  coats  succeeding  the 


PEEPAEATION  FOE  PAINTING. 


153 


first.  Before  applying  a  second  coat,  tlie  first 
should  he  carefully  rubbed  and  all  the  nail- 
heads  and  other  indentations  carefully  stopped 
with  pure  linseed-oil  putty — using  for  flat  sur¬ 
faces  a  square-bladed  putty-knife.  Puttying 
with  the  fingers  should  never  be  tolerated 
(good  work  is  now  the  subject  under  consider¬ 
ation).  This  done,  the  whole  should  be  care¬ 
fully  examined  to  ascertain  if  the  oil  in  the 
former  coat  shall  have  revealed  any  resinous 
or  pitchy  spots,  not  previously  covered  with 
the  shellac.  (But  for  the  present  high  price 
of  alcohol,  the  writer  would  recommend  the 
application  of  thin  shellac  varnish  to  the  whole 
surface,  between  the  first  and  second  coatings.) 
These  preliminaries  being  attended  to,  the 
work  may  be  considered  ready  for  a  second 
coat.  The  directions  as  to  rubbing  with  sand¬ 
paper  are  to  be  observed  in  all  the  succeeding 
coats.  As  a  rule,  on  interior  work,  paint 
should  never  be  applied  to  a  surface  which 
has  not  been  previously  rubbed. 

Sandpaper  for  fresh  work  and  pumice-stone 


154 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


for  old  work.  Always  distrust  tlie  education 
of  a  painter  in  liis  trade  wlio  goes  to  work 
without  a  lump  of  pumice-stone,  a  sheet  of 
sandpaper,  a  putty-knife,  and  a  rag  to  wipe 
off  the  spatters — sparks,  as  the  Irish  not  in¬ 
aptly  call  them.  Apropos  of  spatters  !  Every 
painter  has  seen  (the  result  too  of  unpardon¬ 
able  negligence)  plates  of  glass  so  covered 
with  spatters,  that  to  remove  them  would  re¬ 
quire  more  time  than  would  serve  to  paint 
the  wood-work  of  a  “full-trimmed”  window. 

In  priming  work  which  is  to  he  finished 
in  oak,  finely-ground  French  ochre  is  recom¬ 
mended.  The  objection  to  this  pigment,  that 
it  does  not  work  smoothly  and  easily  under 
the  brush,  has  arisen  from  its  coarseness. 
Finely  ground  in  boiled  oil,  it  works  as 
smoothly  as  white  lead,  and  makes  an  excel¬ 
lent  foundation  for  the  succeeding  coats. 

For  Avails  the  first  coat  should  be  as  dark 
in  shade  and  as  thin  as  practicable,  the  object 
being  to  stain  the  plaster  as  much  as  possible. 
Indeed,  if  the  Avhole  mass  of  plaster  could  be 


PREPARATION  FOR  PAINTING. 


155 


stained  through,  and  through,  it  would  he  de¬ 
sirable  to  so  stain  it. 

The  use  of  glue  in  wall-painting  is  of 
doubtful  propriety.  It  should  never,  under 
any  circumstances,  he  put  on  until  after  the 
second  coat,  and  then  rubbed  on  with  a  rag, 
very  lightly.  In  first-class  work,  however,  its 
use  is  not  recommended. 

Plaster  mixed  with  weak  glue-size — which 
prevents  its  setting  too  rapidly — is  the  best 
material  for  stopping  walls  preparatory  to 
painting,  and  each  coat  of  paint  should  be 
carefully  rubbed  with  worn  sandpaper,  before 
the  succeeding  coat  is  put  on.  Por  preparing 
walls  a  small  pocket-trowel  will  be  found  a 
most  serviceable  tool,  or  a  trowel-shaped  put¬ 
ty-knife,  which  article  is  now  coming  into 
general  use. 

The  preparation  of  ceilings  for  whitewash¬ 
ing  (or  kalsomining,  as  this  operation  is  some¬ 
times  pretentiously  called)  is  an  operation  re¬ 
quiring  some  skill  and  knowledge  of  “  how  to 
do  it.”  A  dirty  ceiling,  which  has  been  sub- 


150 


iiousE-PAnsrrrNG. 


jected  to  successive  coats  of  whitewash,  wheth¬ 
er  of  lime,  or  whiting  and  glue-size,  cannot 
he  made  solidly  and  smoothly  white  by  addi¬ 
tional  whitewashing.  The  mass  has  become 
spongy,  and  sucks  up  the  water  so  quickly, 
that  the  material  cannot  be  evenly  distributed. 
In  such  case,  the  only  way  is  to  begin  anew, 
to  go  at  once  “  down  to  hard  pan  ”  by  remov¬ 
ing  all  the  previous  applications  by  washing 
and  scraping.  This  is  best  effected  with  a 
broad-bladed  square-pointed  putty-knife,  keep¬ 
ing  the  ceiling  wet  meanwhile.  Plaster  (hard- 
finish)  is  not  of  uniform  density,  and  some 
spots  are  much  more  absorbent  than  others. 
To  remedy  this,  a  mixture  of  soft  soap  and 
alum,  dissolved  in  water,  should  he  applied 
with  a  broad  kalsomine  brush. 

It  is  not  assumed  that  mere  verbal  instruc¬ 
tion  can  teach  the  art  of  whitening  or  tinting 
Avails  and  ceilings  in  water-colors.  To  pro¬ 
duce  good  results,  great  skill  in  preparing  the 
materials  and  dexterity  in  manipulation  are 
required  ;  and  such  work  should  be  intrusted 


PREPARATION  FOR  PAINTING.  157 


only  to  competent  hands.  A  mass  of  unsuit¬ 
able  material  may  be  cheaply  put  upon  a 
ceiling  ;  but  when  the  same  shall  require 
repainting,  the  cost  of  labor  will  be  greater 
in  removing  the  previous  coating,  than  will  be 
the  whole  cost  of  repainting.  These  remarks, 
too,  apply  equally  to  all  kinds  of  painting ; 
and  reference  is  made  to  the  whitening  and 
tinting  of  ceilings  only,  because  of  the  general 
impression  that  this  kind  of  work  may  be 
performed  by  anybody. 

The  materials  and  tools  used  in  painting 
are  too  costly  to  be  wasted  and  worn  by  in¬ 
competent  handling.  “  Painting  up,  just  to 
keep  the  gardener  or  hostler  out  of  idleness,” 
will  prove  in  most  cases  a  left-handed  econo¬ 
my.  Such  experiments  are  prudent  only 
when  the  services  of  skilled  workmen  cannot 
be  obtained. 


CHAPTER  XXIY. 


DECORATIVE  HOUSE-PAINTING. 

It  must  be  admitted  that,  as  a  people,  we 
are  sadly  indifferent  to  the  effect  of  color  for 
decorative  and  ornamental  purposes ; — no 
people  more  so.  Certainly  none  have  shown 
less  disposition  to  study  the  harmonious  ar¬ 
rangement  of  colors,  either  in  furniture  or 
architecture.  It  would  seem  that  in  this 
respect  we  are  just  emerging  from  a  condition 
of  barbarism — but  that  all  semi-civilized  and 
barbarous  nations  evince  far  more  natural 
taste  in  the  arrangement  of  colors,  and  skill 
in  colored  design,  than  we  do.  It  may  be 
said  that  a  people,  with  the  task  on  their 
hands  of  subduing  a  vast  continent  and  bring¬ 
ing  into  subjection  the  rude  forces  of  Xature, 
have  weightier  matters  demanding  their  at- 


DECORATIVE  IIOTJSE-PAINTING. 


159 


tention  tlian  tlie  arrangement  of  patches  and 
stripes  of  colors  to  please  a  childish  or  frivo¬ 
lous  fancy.  This  proposition,  if  offered  in 
excuse,  would  perhaps  be  pertinent  if,  as  in¬ 
dividuals,  we  were  not  given  to  indulgences 
far  less  important  than  the  harmonious  com¬ 
bination  of  colors.  If  we  were  a  patient, 
plodding,  laborious,  painstaking  people,  given 
over  to  the  pursuits  of  gain — utilitarian  in 
our  habits  and  modes  of  life — there  would  be 
more  excuse  for  this  neglect  of  the  education 
of  the  perceptive  faculties.  But  such  is  not 
the  case.  We  are  a  most  extravagant  people, 
not  only  in  our  modes  of  living,  but  in  our 
modes  of  thinking.  We  waste  more  than 
some  nations  consume  ;  and  we  look  upon  econ¬ 
omy  as  at  best  a  negative  virtue,  which  a  proud¬ 
spirited  people  cannot  consistently  practise. 

It  is  not,  therefore,  from  the  want,  either 
of  leisure  or  of  means,  that  we  neglect  to 
educate  ourselves  in  the  various  branches  of 
ornamental  art,  which,  if  properly  cultivated, 
would  serve  to  render  beautiful  as  well  as 


160 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


useful  articles  of  every-day  requirement ;  nor 
is  it  from  an  indisposition  to  spend  our  money 
for  the  encouragement  of  decorative  art. 
How  many  lavish  enormous  sums  in  the 
purchase  of  pictures  which  are  placed  in 
houses  furnished  throughout  with  not  the 
slightest  regard  to  harmony,  or  proportion, 
or  beauty  of  design,  or  finish !  Many  of  the 
houses  of  our  rich  men  are  frightful,  from  the 
abundance  of  gaudy  and  meretricious  orna¬ 
mentation  !  Indeed,  we  spend  more  money, 
in  proportion  to  what  we  get  for  it,  than  any 
people  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

What  we  require  most,  is  to  free  ourselves 
from  the  slavery  which  we  are  under  to 
fashion  and  custom  and  servile  imitation ! 
We  must  become,  in  our  modes  of  thinking 
and  in  our  modes  of  acting,  more  independ¬ 
ent.  There  must  be  more  of  individuality,  of 
self-assertion,  and  less  of  subserviency  to  the 
prevailing  fashion  of  the  moment.  We  boast 
of  our  independence — yet  in  such  matters  we 
do  not  make  it  manifest. 


DECORATIVE  HOUSE-PAINTING. 


161 


Few — either  men  or  women— have  the 
courage,  in  the  furnishing  of  their  houses,  to 
ignore  the  prevailing  fashion,  however  much 
that  fashion  may  set  at  defiance  all  rules  of 
harmony  in  arrangement  and  adaptation. 

For  example :  paper  hangings  are  the  mode, 
and  we  cover  all  our  walls  with  paper,  much 
of  which  is  perfectly  frightful,  both  in  design 
and  color. 

An  invalid  lying  in  bed  in  some  of  our 
papered  rooms,  with  no  mental  occupation  but 
that  of  tracing  the  figures  on  the  walls,  will 
he  forced  to  hide  his  head  beneath  the  bed¬ 
clothes  to  escape  the  appalling  images  which 
his  diseased  fancy  will  have  conjured  out  of 
the  ill-regulated  designs  and  patterns  which, 
in  spite  of  himself,  meet  his  gaze,  turn  which¬ 
ever  way  he  may. 

Again :  what  is  called  plain  painting  is 
the  prevailing  custom,  and  we  rush  to  strip 
from  our  houses  the  painted  paper,  and  a 
plain  dead  level  of  sombre  neutral  tints  takes 
the  place  of  the  many-hued,  cheap,  and  too 


162 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


often  gaudy  hangings — an  improvement,  per¬ 
haps,  because  less  liable  to  add  to  the  horrors 
of  a  distempered  fancy,  and  more  in  con¬ 
sonance  with  the  laws  of  health.  If  nothing 
more  is  gained,  cleanliness  is  promoted  by  the 
change. 

White  walls  for  a  time  prevail,  and  we 
put  forth  frantic  efforts  to  find  some  substance 
which  shall  rival  the  new-fallen  snow  in 
whiteness.  This  spasm  of  puritanism  gives 
place  to  panelled  work,  and  we  have  panels 
and  mouldings  everywhere,  in  halls  and  ves¬ 
tibules,  in  parlors  and  bedrooms,  with  high 
ceilings  and  low.  Now,  brighter  hues  become 
the  fashion !  Fresco-painting ,  so-called,  is 
the  prevailing,  and,  therefore ,  proper  style  for 
walls  and  ceilings,  and  parti-colors  cover  the 
plain  white  which  has  so  long  held  a  place. 

A  soi-clisant  fresco-painter  is  employed, 
and  the  white  walls  disappear  under  sky- 
blues,  and  blue  and  red-grays,  and  pink  and 
gilding,  laid  on  by  lavish  but  unskilful  hands 
— not  only  without  regard  to  harmony  either 


DECORATIVE  HOUSE-PAINTING. 


163 


by  analogy  or  contrast,  but  too  often  with  no 
fixed  intent  or  purpose. 

Carpets  are  cbosen  with  no  regard  to  the 
movable  furniture,  and  pictures  are  hung 
against  walls  so  dazzling  with  colors  and  gild¬ 
ing  that  the  brightest  hues  on  the  canvas  be¬ 
come  dull  and  dingy  by  comparison. 

Living  so  much  in-doors  as  we  do,  it  is  of 
the  first  importance  that  the  articles  we  have 
constantly  before  us  in  our  houses,  and  to 
which  the  younger  portion  of  the  household 
are  so  much  indebted  for  early  impressions, 
should  be  beautiful  and  in  good  taste — that 
the  eye  may  be  educated  by  the  habit  of  seeing 
what  is  good.  We  must  discourage  to  the  last 
degree  the  idea  that  beautiful  designs  are  to 
be  found  only  in  costly  and  expensive  objects, 
and  that  the  wealthy  alone  have  such  within 
their  reach ;  for,  so  long  as  taste  is  confined  to 
a  few  individuals,  and  is  not  introduced  into 
the  ordinary  ornaments  and  utensils  of  every¬ 
day  life,  it  will  continue  an  exotic  and  a 
luxury.  There  is  no  reason  why  these  articles 


164 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


of  every-day  use  may  not  be  made  beautiful 
as  easily  as  they  now  are  too  often  hideous 
and  misshapen. 

To  be  of  use,  taste  should  pervade  all 
classes  ;  all  portions  of  the  community  should 
be  afforded  the  means  of  educating  the  eye  ; 
for  there  can  be  no  hope  of  improvement  in 
the  production  of  articles  of  every-day  re- 
quirement,  if  those  who  create  them  are 
ignorant  of  the  simplest  notions  of  taste,  and 
cannot  even  comprehend  the  beauty  of  a  de¬ 
sign  when  it  is  presented  to  them.  It  is  not 
by  the  education  of  the  wealthy  that  taste 
can  be  spread  through  a  country.  Our 
theory  of  general  education,  almost  “with¬ 
out  money  and  without  price,”  is  excellent 
so  far  as  it  goes,  but  it  does  not  go  far 
enough.  It  has  not  sufficient  scope  and  ex¬ 
tension. 

We  expend  our  energies  in  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  the  intellectual  faculties  and  forget 
that  there  are  perceptive  faculties,  which  need 
development  and  education.  We  teach  the 


DECORATIVE  HOTJSE-PAINTING. 


165 


ear  to  comprehend  the  harmony  of  sounds, 
but  make  not  the  slightest  attempt  to  educate 
the  eye  in  the  harmony  of  color  !  Yet  how 
much  of  the  pains  and  pleasures  of  every-day 
life  do  we  realize  through  the  sense  of  sight ! 
To  be  deprived  of  this  faculty  is  considered 
the  greatest  misfortune.  Is  it  not  a  misfor¬ 
tune  to  have  eyes  and  see  not  ? 

The  school-room  is  of  all  others  the  place 
where  good  examples  of  colored  ornamenta¬ 
tion  should  be  displayed. 

It  is  the  least  expensive  and  troublesome 
of  all  kinds  of  teaching;  for,  with  good  ex¬ 
amples,  the  eye  becomes  self-educated. 

Every  common  school  should  be  a  school 
of  design  in  the  best  and  most  comprehensive 
sense  of  the  term  ;  and  the  fact  should  be  im¬ 
pressed  upon  the  minds  of  all,  that  objects 
possessing  proportion,  form,  and  other  condi¬ 
tions  of  beauty,  need  not  'necessarily  be  ex¬ 
pensive. 

The  humblest  individual  may  display  an 
innate  perception  of  the  beautiful  in  the  or- 


1G6 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


namentation  of  a  homely  cottage  and  in  the 
poorest  materials.  It  should  he  remembered 
by  those  of  limited  means  that  the  selection 
of  the  beautiful  depends  upon  the  judgment, 
and  is  not  confined  to  the  wealthy. 

The  bad  taste  displayed  in  the  over-fur¬ 
nished  rooms  of  many  of  our  rich  men  is  con¬ 
vincing  proof  that  good  taste  is  not  confined 
to  the  wealthy  members  of  a  community,  nor 
the  possession  of  beautiful  designs  to  those  of 
ample  means. 

It  is  not  enough  that  the  interior  of  our 
dwellings  and  public  buildings  should  be 
covered  with  one  or  more  coats  of  white  or 
pale-tinted  paint.  The  panels  and  mouldings 
which  have  been  introduced  there  for  archi¬ 
tectural  effect  and  beauty,  should  be  made  to 
serve  a  double  purpose  in  the  way  of  colored 
ornamentation.  Nothing  can  be  said  in  de¬ 
fence  of  the  custom  which  has  until  within  a 
few  years  almost  universally  prevailed,  of 
painting  the  walls  and  interior  wood-work  of 
our  dwellings  with  one  unvarying  color,  that 


DECORATIVE  HOIJS E-PAINTING. 


167 


will  not  apply  with,  equal  force  to  the  carpets, 
hangings,  and  general  furniture. 

As  has  been  before  remarked,  that  puri¬ 
tanic  fashion  has  had  its  day,  and  is  about  to 
be  numbered  among  things  that  were.  We 
must  now  guard  against  the  other  extreme, 
and  not  suffer  our  houses  to  be  streaked  with 
colors  and  tints  laid  on  by  unskilful  hands, 
without  regard  to  harmony  or  tasteful  ar¬ 
rangement. 

The  fashion  for  compound  hues,  neutral 
tints,  grays,  and  other  so-called  quiet  colors, 
is  giving  place  to  a  preference  for  combina¬ 
tions  of  red,  blue,  yellow,  and  other  colors  of  the 
prism.  It  has  been  the  custom  to  decry  these 
colors  as  gaudy.  But  bright  colors  are  not 
necessarily  gaudy.  It  is  only  when  they  are 
put  together  without  due  regard  to  their  suit¬ 
ableness  to  each  other,  and  their  relative 
quantities  in  the  arrangement  they  require, 
that  they  appear  gaudy  and  glaring.  A  union 
of  bright  hues,  without  regard  to  harmony, 
must  of  necessity  be  disagreeable  to  the  eye 


168 


HOUSE-PAINTINGr. 


educated  to  a  knowledge  of  what  constitutes 
true  harmony  in  the  combination  of  colors. 

There  are  some,  however,  who  are  as  com¬ 
pletely  insensible  to  the  effect  of  such  har¬ 
mony,  as  they  are  to  that  of  musical  sounds. 
It  is,  therefore,  of  great  importance  that  those 
whose  business  or  profession  it  is  to  arrange 
colors  in  harmonious  combination,  should  be 
thoroughly  imbued  with  the  true  feeling  for 
it,  and  should  possess  that  natural  perception, 
which,  though  it  may  be  improved  by  study, 
cannot  be  acquired  when  the  natural  faculty 
is  wanting. 

TSTo  mere  theory,  however  pretentious,  can 
teach  the  art  of  combining  colors  in  har¬ 
monious  arrangement.  The  power  depends 
upon  the  perceptive  faculty,  and  unless  a 
person  possess  this,  he  will  vainly  attempt  to 
lay  down  rules  for  the  guidance  of  others. 
Rules  may  be  given  for  the  direction  of  those 
who  do  not  possess  the  faculty  of  detecting 
discords  in  colors,  but  they  must  be  the  result 
of  observation.  Because  such  and  such  colors 


DECOKATIVE  HOUSE-PAINTING.  169 

stand  in  a  certain  relationship  to  others,  or  are 
compounded  in  a  certain  manner,  it  cannot  be 
affirmed  that  they  must  therefore  accord  or 
disagree  with  some  other  color.  The  question 
is  not  whether  they  ought  or  ought  not  to 
agree,  hut  whether  they  clo  or  do  not  agree. 

What  we  want  is  a  knowledge  of  a  proper 
combination  of  colors,  derived  from  the  ex¬ 
perience  of  those  who  possess  an  intuitive  per¬ 
ception  of  it,  and  it  is  the  eye  alone  which 
must  be  consulted  as  the  proper  judge  of 
what  it  sees. 


8 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


IIABMONY  AND  DISCORD  OF  COLORS. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that,  in  the  com¬ 
bination  of  colors,  there  are  some  which,  by 
contrast,  set  off  other  colors,  and  materially 
heighten  the  effect,  while  others  decrease  it. 
Of  course,  much  depends  upon  proportion,  and 
so  great  is  this  influence,  that  colors  which 
suit  each  other  in  one  instance,  will  have  a 
disagreeable  effect  when  one  is  too  great  or 
too  little  in  proportion  to  its  neighbor.  And 
such  a  result  will  be  produced  in  a  carpet,  or 
other  colored  object,  when  the  colors  and  hues 
offend  against  these  conditions. 

In  studying  the  harmony  of  color,  it  is 
certainly  important  to  know  Avhat  colors,  when 
placed  together,  are  concords,  and  what  are 


HARMONY  AND  DISCORD  OF  COLORS.  171 


discords  ;  but  so  much  depends  upon  propor¬ 
tion,  that  no  rule  can  be  laid  down  which 
shall  be  a  guide  in  this  respect ;  therefore,  it 
would  be  a  hopeless  task  to  attempt  to  edu¬ 
cate  a  person  in  the  art  of  decorating  with 
colors  whose  perceptive  faculties  are  deficient 
in  distinguishing  what  are  or  what  are  not 
proper  proportions. 

Few  persons  are  so  color-blind  as  not  to 
experience  the  disagreeable  effect  produced  by 
placing  in  juxtaposition  alternate  stripes  of 
red  and  green.  But  this  is  not  enough.  It  is 
necessary  to  know  what  tones  of  these  colors 
are  least  discordant,  and  what  color  is  wanting 
to  change  this  discord  to  harmony,  supposing 
such  a  result  to  be  possible. 

Harmony  of  color  must  not  be  understood 
as  meaning  similarity  of  color.  There  is  a 
harmony  by  analogy ,  and  a  harmony  by  con¬ 
trast  also.  As  examples  of  the  first,  may  be 
mentioned  crimson  and  rich  brown,  crimson 
and  purple,  yellow  and  gold.  Of  the  lat¬ 
ter  (harmony  by  contrast),  scarlet  and  blue, 


172 


nOUSE-PAINTmG. 


orange  and  bine,  yellow  and  black,  white  and 
black,  etc. 

There  are  also  colors  which  diminish  each 
other’s  effect,  as  green  and  red.  This  fact  is 
well  known  to  those  of  the  fair  sex  who  have 
fire-colored  liah’,  and  they  avail  themselves  of 
this  knowledge,  and  soften  the  force  of  the  too 
bright  red  by  a  liberal  nse  of  green.  Blue, 
on  the  contrary,  being  a  contrast  to  red — par¬ 
ticularly  fire-red — sets  it  off,  and  women  with 
red  hair  (when  that  tint  does  not  happen  to 
be  the  mode)  are  justified  in  their  habit  of 
diminishing  its  intensity  by  the  use  of  the 
other  more  suitable  color.- 

The  object  in  ornamentation,  however,  is 
not  to  hide  colors,  but  to  show  them — to 
brighten,  not  diminish  their  effect — and  what¬ 
ever  interferes  with  this,  is  contrary  to  the 
spirit  of  ornamentation.  Colors  so  affected 
cease  to  appear  to  be  what  they  really  are  ! 

Thus,  a  black  next  to  a  red  or  green,  or 
between  these  two,  becomes  a  dull  or  rusty 
hue,  and  both  the  red  and  green  lose  by  the 


HARMONY  AND  DISCORD  OR  COLORS.  173 


arrangement.  Introduce  a  white  or  a  yellow 
next  the  black,  and  it  at  once  regains  its  own 
hue  ;  others,  again,  raise  the  force  of  those  they 
are  combined  with,  as  both  white  and  black 
heighten  the  rose  of  the  face,  and  these  both 
too  increase  the  paleness  of  a  pale  complexion. 

Light  colors  also  brighten  deeper  ones ;  as 
white  or  yellow  with  red  or  blue  renders  them 
more  lively ;  if  intermixed  with  them,  it  on 
the  contrary  diminishes  their  depth :  thus, 
yellow,  interwoven  with  crimson,  gives  it  a 
scarlet  tone,  and  white  with  blue,  of  course, 
lightens  it. 

Some  are  harmonious  from  one  being  warm 
and  another  cold ;  as  red  and  blue,  orange 
and  blue,  brown  and  blue,  and  sometimes  two 
cold  colors  harmonize,  as  blue  and  white. 

The  perception  of  harmony  in  the  arrange¬ 
ment  of  colors  is  a  natural  gift,  and  can  no 
more  be  acquired,  than  an  ear  for  music  can 
be  acquired,  when  the  natural  faculty  of  dis¬ 
tinguishing  concord  of  sounds  is  wanting.  LSTo 
effort  will  compensate  for  the  absence  of  the 


174 


HOUSE-PAINTIN'  G. 


natural  gift ;  but  both  the  eye  and  the  ear 
may  be  improved  by  study,  as  both  may  be 
impaired  by  bad  habit. 

The  perceptive  faculty  necessary  to  the 
arrangement  of  colors  in  harmonious  combina¬ 
tion  is  not  only  a  natural  gift,  but  is  a  na¬ 
tional  trait.  The  Italians  are  the  most  gifted 
in  decorative  ornamentation,  and  the  Trench, 
perhaps,  come  nest.  The  Scotch  are  sadly 
deficient  in  this  faculty,  their  efforts,  so  far, 
having  resulted  in  the  “  Scotch  plaid,”  which 
ought  to  be  the  emblem  of  discord.  The 
Irish,  too,  display  little  or  no  taste  in  the  ar¬ 
rangement  of  colors.  They,  as  a  people,  seem 
to  think  that  all  the  world  should  be  one  un¬ 
broken  green,  save  here  and  there  a  speck  of 
gold.  The  Dutch,  who  so  far  excel  the 
French  as  artistic  colorists — particularly,  in 
imitating  the  colors  of  nature  in  landscapes — 
are  far  inferior  to  the  latter  in  decorative  or¬ 
namentation. 

Colors  in  pictures  do  not,  of  course,  admit 
of  the  same  contrast  as  when  applied  to  orna- 


HARMONY  AND  DISCORD  OF  COLORS.  175 


mental  purposes;  tlie  mode  of  using  them, 
also,  is  different,  and  the  gray  tints  introduced 
into  a  picture  prevent  the  contrast  of  the 
different  colors  being  so  strong  and  decided. 
Nor  are  colors  for  ornamental  purposes  to  be 
used  in  the  same  way  on  all  occasions.  Those 
which  would  suit  well  for  some  purposes  will 
not  answer  for  other  purposes.  Those  which 
are  well  adapted  for  furniturfe,  or  the  decora¬ 
tion  of  a  wall  or  ceiling,  might  not  he  suitable 
for  dresses ;  and  the  colors  which  suit  a  lady’s 
toilet  would  not,  according  to  the  prevailing 
taste,  be  admissible  in  the  simpler  costume  of 
men  in  civilized  communities.  Colors  which 
suit  one  complexion  are  not  always  adapted 
to  another.  The  orange  hue,  which  would  be 
a  favorite  with  a  brunette,  would  be  strongly 
objected  to  by  the  light-haired  blonde.  The 
latter  would  consider  blue  by  far  the  prefer¬ 
able  color. 

In  furniture,  such  as  carpets,  coverings, 
draperies,  etc.,  it  is  better,  as  a  rule,  to  attempt 
harmony  by  analogy  rather  than  by  contrast. 


176 


HotrsE-PAmTmG. 


Reds,  rich  browns,  crimsons,  scarlets,  and 
greens,  with  an  admixture  of  orange  or  gold, 
produce  much  more  satisfactory  results  than 
yellows  and  blues.  The  former  wear  better,  and 
are  much  less  likely  to  offend  good  taste  than 
when  contrasts  are  attempted.  Yellows  and 
blues — particularly  light  blues — soon  acquire 
a  worn,  faded  appearance,  and  lack  the  warm, 
genial  effect  so  desirable  in  the  place  we  call 
home. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that,  because  cer¬ 
tain  colors  are  placed  in  juxtaposition  by  na¬ 
ture,  such  combinations  must  necessarily  be 
harmonious.  Nature  delights  in  contrasts, 
and,  while  some  flowers  are  most  beautiful  and 
harmonious  in  their  colors,  others  are  equally 
discordant. 

In  decorative  ornamentation,  N  ature  is  not 
a  safe  guide ;  and  it  does  not  follow,  that  leaves 
and  flowers  and  plants,  so  beautiful  in  the 
conservatory,  may  with  equal  propriety  be 
introduced  in  patterns  for  carpets  and  hang¬ 
ings.  In  carpets,  colors,  not  patterns,  should 


HARMONY  AND  DISCORD  OF  COLORS.  177 

be  the  chief  object.  It  is  of  little  consequence 
what  the  pattern  may  be,  so  long  as  the  colors 
are  arranged  in  harmonious  proportion.  ISTo 
theory  will  serve  to  guide  us  in  these  matters. 
The  general  effect  is  what  is  most  to  be  con¬ 
sidered,  the  tout  ensemble ,  as  the  French  say. 
The  detail  is  of  little  importance,  so  long  as 
the  general  effect  is  pleasing;  above  all,  the 
eye  must  not  be  offended  by  glaring  contrasts. 
Gaudiness  is  always  offensive  to  a  cultivated 
taste. 

Two  colors  agree — by  the  harmony  of  con¬ 
trast,  or  by  the  harmony  of  analogy.  To  state 
the  proposition  more  plainly — two  colors  agree 
by  being  like  each  other,  or  by  being  unlike 
each  other,  or  by  the  addition  of  a  third, 
which  is  wanting  to  produce  perfect  har¬ 
mony  ;  as  an  instance  of  the  latter,  may  be 
mentioned  blue  and  red,  which  are  concords, 
but  which  require  the  addition  of  yellow,  to 
make  the  harmony  perfect.  Among  the  most 
pleasing  colors  which  harmonize  with  each 
other  in  pairs,  are  : 


178 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


Blue  and  gold. 
Purple  and  gold. 
Green  and  gold. 
Black  and  gold. 
Crimson  and  gold. 
Brown  and  gold. 
Brown  and  orange. 


Blue  and  orange. 
Blue  and  scarlet. 
Blue  and  black. 

Blue  and  white. 

Blue  and  chestnut. 
Chestnut  and  orange. 
Green  and  orange. 


These  are  not,  of  course,  all ;  hut  others 
harmonize  in  a  less  degree,  and,  as  before  said, 
some  want  a  third  to  produce  harmony.  Some 
are  disagreeable,  and  some  positive  discords. 
Among  the  wanting  and  disagreeable  may  be 
mentioned : 


Blue  and  pink. 

Blue  and  peach. 

Blue  and  gray. 

Blue  and  green. 

Blue  and  blue-purple. 
Orange  and  lilac. 
Orange  and  drab. 
Orange  and  gray. 
Scarlet  and  brown. 
Scarlet  and  chestnut. 
Scarlet  and  drab. 
Scarlet  and  green. 
Crimson  and  purple. 
Crimson  and  pink. 
Crimson  and  gray. 
Crimson  and  peach. 


Yellow  and  red-purple. 
Yellow  and  scarlet. 
Yellow  and  gray. 
Yellow  and  lilac. 
Yellow  and  drab. 

Red  and  green. 

Red  and  blue-green. 
Red  and  pink. 

Red  and  buff. 

Red  and  chestnut. 
Purple  and  lilac.  , 
Purple  and  slate-color. 
Purple  and  brown. 
Purple  and  stone-color. 
Purple  and  gray. 

Purple  and  pink. 


HAEMONY  AND  DISCORD  OF  COLOES.  179 


Green  and  gray. 

Green  and  drab. 

Green  and  stone-color. 

The  discords  in  two 

Yellow  and  pink. 

Green  and  pink-red. 
Olive-green  and  red. 
Slate-color  and  green. 
Pink  and  green. 

Brown  and  green. 
Chocolate  and  green. 
Busset  and  green. 
Blue-green  and  lilac. 
Scarlet  and  olive-green. 


Purple  and  peach. 
Purple  and  chestnut. 

colors  are  : 

Crimson  and  green. 
Crimson  and  olive-green. 
Mulberry  and  green. 
Claret  and  green. 

Lilac  and  green. 
Red-brown  and  green. 
Purple  and  citrine. 
Blue-purple  and  green. 
Purple  and  green.* 


The  colors  which  harmonize  are  : 


Blue  and  red — but  want  yellow. 

Blue  and  scarlet. 

Blue  and  salmon-color. 

Blue  and  orange — a  most  agreeable  harmony. 

Blue  and  yellow — harmonize,  but  not  so  rich  as  blue  and 
orange.  A  blue  should  not  be  placed  between  two 
yellows,  or  a  yellow  between  two  blues,  as  a  general  rule. 
Blue  and  white — but  the  white  should  be  in  excess. 

Blue  and  black. 

Blue  and  chestnut — have  a  rich  effect. 

Blue  and  chocolate — harmonize. 

Blue  and  stone-color. 

Blue  and  drab. 


*  The  worst  kind  of  discord.  This  applies  to  all  purples 
and  greens. 


ISO 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


Clue  and  green. — but  want  orange. 

Blue  and  purple — but  want  scarlet  and  gold. 

Yellow  and  black — not  so  good  as  orange  and  black. 

Yellow  and  green — inferior  to  orange  „and  green. 

Yellow  and  chestnut — not  so  rich  as  orange. 

Yellow  and  brown. 

Yellow  and  purple. 

Yellow  and  red — but  want  blue. 

Yellow  and  crimson — inferior  to  orange  or  gold  and  crimson. 
Gold  and  green — very  pleasing  harmony. 

Gold  and  blue — very  pleasing  harmony. 

Gold  and  crimson — very  rich. 

Gold  and  purple. 

Gold  and  scarlet — rich  but  inferior  to  gold  and  crimson. 

Gold  and  chestnut — rich  harmony. 

Gold  and  lilac — harmonize  (as  do  gold  and  lavender). 

Gold  and  black. 

Gold  and  white — harmonize,  but  wanting. 

Orange  and  yellow — a  good  effect  by  gaslight. 

Gold  and  gray — harmonize,  but  cold  and  wanting. 

Orange  and  black — harmonize  better  than  yellow  and  black. 
Orange  and  chestnut — agreeable  harmony. 

Orange  and  purple,  or  red  purple. 

Orange  and  puce. 

Orange  and  green — very  agreeable  harmony. 

Orange  and  gold — harmonize  by  analogy,  but  wanting ;  orange 
will  not  take  the  place  of  gold,  and  an  orange  ground  is 
cold  and  dead  compared  to  a  gold  one. 

Orange  and  crimson — rich,  but  want  blue. 

Eed  is  less  suited  for  ornamentation  than 
scarlet  and  crimson.  (In  flowers,  red  is  the 
color  of  the  original  Verbena  Mdindris. 


HARMONY  AND  DISCORD  OP  COLORS.  181 


Red  and  gold— harmonize,  but  inferior  to  crimson,  and  gold. 
Red  and  gray — harmonize. 

Red  and  white — harmonize,  but  the  white  must  be  in  excess. 
Slate-color  and  black — harmonize. 

Slate-color  and  scarlet — harmonize. 

Slate-color  and  gold — harmonize. 

Black  and  white — harmonize  by  contrast. 

Black  and  yellow. 

Black  and  buff — but  the  black  overpowers  its  companion. 
Black  and  scarlet — harmonize,  but  wanting. 

Black  and  blue — harmonize,  but  gloomy. 

White  and  gold — harmonize,  wanting  by  daylight,  but  light 
up  well  together. 

White  and  red. 

White  and  scarlet. 

White  and  crimson. 

White  and  brown — but  white  should  be  in  excess. 

White  and  purple — but  white  should  be  in  excess. 

White  and  chocolate-color — but  white  should  be  in  excess. 

Tlie  most  harmonious  combination  of  colors 
with  two  or  more  companions  are : 

Blue  and  red  (or  scarlet  or  crimson)  with  yellow  or  gold. 
Blue  and  scarlet,  and  purple  and  yellow  (or  orange  or  gold), 
and  black. 

Blue  and  scarlet,  and  yellow  (or  orange  or  gold),  with  a  small 
quantity  of  (bright)  green. 

Blue  and  scarlet,  and  gold  and  white. 

Blue  and  scarlet,  and  white  and  purple,  and  yellow  (or  better, 
gold  or  orange). 

Blue  and  yellow,  and  scarlet,  and  white  and  black,  and 
orange  and  green. 


182 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


Orange  and  blue,  and  green  and  white,  and  black. 

Crimson  (or  scarlet)  and  yellow,  and  blue  and  white,  and 
black. 

Blue  and  yellow  (or  orange),  and  purple  and  scarlet  (or 
crimson),  and  white  and  black. 

Blue  and  scarlet,  and  green  and  yellow  (or  orange  and  gold), 
and  black  and  white,  and  purple  and  scarlet,  and  gold. 

Tlie  orange  is  not  a  red,  hut  yellow  orange. 
When  scarlet  is  used  instead  of  crimson,  the 
quantity  of  yellow  must  he  lessened,  and  when 
yellow  is  used  in  place  of  orange,  it  must  he 
in  less  quantity.  Green  must  he  in  smaller 
proportion  to  the  other  colors,  and  of  bright 
color. 

The  harmonious  combinations  of  three  col¬ 
ors  are : 

Blue  and  red  and  yellow — if  in  proper  proportion. 

Blue  and  scarlet  and  yellow. 

Blue  and  crimson  and  yellow. 

Blue  and  crimson  and  orange. 

Blue  and  crimson  and  gold — very  rich  in  furniture. 

Blue  and  crimson  and  scarlet — but  want  green  and  yellow. 
Blue  and  red  and  white — cold. 

Blue  and  scarlet  and  white. 

Blue  and  scarlet  and  orange — but  want  black. 

Yellow  and  scarlet  and  purple — but  want  blue. 

Yellow  and  crimson  and  purple — but  want  blue  and  chestnut. 
Purple  and  scarlet  and  gold. 


IIAEMONY  AND  DISCORD  OF  COLORS. 


183 


Purple  and  scarlet  and  white. 

Purple  and  orange  and  crimson — but  want  blue. 

Lilac  and  scarlet  and  gold. 

Lilac  and  scarlet  and  black. 

Lilac  and  scarlet  and  white. 

Lilac  and  crimson  and  gold  (or  orange). 

Lilac  and  white  and  gold — but  want  scarlet  and  black. 

Lilac  and  white  and  blue — but  want  black  and  scarlet  and 
gold. 

Black  and  white  and  scarlet — harmonize  well.  ' 

Black  and  white  and  crimson — harmonize  well. 

Gray  and  scarlet  and  blue — harmonize. 

The  harmonious  combinations  in  four  col¬ 
ors  are : 

Blue  and  red  (or  scarlet)  and  yellow  and  brown — harmonize, 
but  poor. 

Blue  and  red  (or  better  scarlet)  and  green  in  small  propor¬ 
tion  and  yellow  (or  gold  or  orange). 

Blue  and  red  (or  scarlet)  and  black  and  yellow. 

Blue  and  red  and  black  and  white — but  rather  cold. 

Blue  and  red  (or  scarlet)  and  white  and  gold — the  white 
being  in  small  quantity. 

Blue  and  red  (or  scarlet)  and  white  and  yellow. 

Blue  and  chestnut  and  scarlet  (or  crimson)  and  orange  (or 
yellow). 

Blue  and  crimson  and  purple  and  orange. 

Blue  and  scarlet  and  purple  and  gold. 

Blue  and  scarlet  and  purple  and  yellow. 

Blue  and  scarlet  and  purple  and  orange. 

Blue  and  scarlet  and  purple  and  white. 

Blue  and  scarlet  and  maroon  and  orange. 


184 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


Blue  and  scarlet  and  green  and  white. 

Blue  and  black  and  white  and  orange. 

Bed  and  black  and  white  and  gold — wanting. 

Lilac  and  scarlet  and  gold  and  white. 

Lilac  and  scarlet  and  black  and  white. 

Black  and  white  and  scarlet  and  blue — cold. 

Black  and  orange  and  scarlet  and  blue. 

White  and  black  and  orange  and  red — want  blue. 

Tlie  harmonious  combinations  in  five  col¬ 
ors  are : 

Blue  and  red  (or  scarlet)  and  white  and  green  and  yellow 
(better  gold  or  orange). 

Blue  and  red  (or  scarlet)  and  white  and  purple  and  yellow 
(or  rather  gold  or  orange) — harmonize  well. 

Blue  and  red  (or  scarlet)  and  green  and  yellow  (or  gold),  on 
white  ground — harmonize. 

Blue  and  red  (or  scarlet)  and  yellow  (or  gold)  and  brown 
and  white. 

Blue  and  red  (or  scarlet)  and  yellow  (or  orange  or  gold)  and 
purple  and  black. 

Blue  and  red  (or  scarlet)  and  orange  and  chestnut  and  white. 
Blue  and  red. and  yellow  and  black  and  white. 

Blue  and  orange  and  green  and  black  and  white. 

Blue  and  chestnut  and  yellow  and  black  and  white. 

Blue  and  orange  and  green  and  purple  and  scarlet. 

Blue  and  crimson  and  green  and  yellow  and  scarlet. 

Blue  and  crimson  and  yellow  and  white  and  scarlet. 

Blue  and  chestnut  and  scarlet  and  orange  and  purple. 

Purple  and  yellow  and  black  and  blue  and  scarlet. 

Lilac  and  scarlet  and  gold  and  black  and  white. 

Lilac  and  scarlet  and  yellow  and  black  and  blue. 


HARMONY  AND  DISCORD  OF  COLORS. 


185 


Black  and  white  and  scarlet  and  blue  and  yellow  (or  gold), 
harmonize. 

Black  and  white  and  orange  and  blue  and  crimson,  harmonize. 

Black  and  scarlet  and  blue  and  green  and  yellow  (or  gold, 
which  is  better),  harmonize. 

Black  and  orange  and  blue  and  white  and  scarlet,  harmonize. 

Harmonious  combinations  of  six  colors  are : 

Blue  and  scarlet  and  green  and  yellow  and  black  and  white, 
harmonize. 

Blue  and  scarlet  and  green  and  orange  (or  better,  gold)  and 
black  and  white. 

Blue  and  scarlet  and  yellow  (or  orange  or  gold)  and  purple 
and  black  and  white,  harmonize  well. 

Blue  and  crimson  and  yellow  (or  orange  or  gold)  and  purple 
and  black  and  white. 

Blue  and  scarlet  and  yellow  (or  orange  or  gold)  and  black 
and  white  and  brown  (or  chestnut). 

Blue  and  crimson  and  yellow  (or  orange  or  gold)  and  black 
and  white  and  brown  (or  chestnut),  harmonize,  but  scar¬ 
let  is  better  than  crimson. 

Blue  and  crimson  and  yellow  (or  orange  or  go'd)  and  green 
and  black  and  white,  harmonize,  but  scarlet  is  better. 

Blue  and  scarlet  (or  crimson  or  red)  and  orange  and  purple 
and  black  and  a  little  yellow,  harmonize. 

Blue  and  crimson  and  orange  (or  gold)  and  purple  and  black 
and  white,  harmonize,  but  want  yellow. 

Purple  and  orange  and  scarlet  and  blue  and  black  and  white. 

Lilac  and  scarlet  and  gold  (or  orange)  and  blue  and  black 
and  white. 

Harmonious  combinations  of  seven  colors  : 

Blue  and  scarlet  (or  red)  and  orange  (or  gold)  and  a  little 


186 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


green  and  purple  and  white  and  yellow,  harmonize,  but 
want  black. 

Blue  and  scarlet  and  orange  and  green-  and  purple  and  yellow 
and  black. 

Blue  and  scarlet  (or  red)  and  yellow  and  green  and  orange 
and  black  and  white. 

Blue  and  scarlet  (or  red)  and  green  and  orange  and  black  and 
purple  and  white. 

Blue  and  scarlet  (or  red)  and  black  and  white  and  yellow  and 
brown  and  purple. 

Blue  and  scarlet  (or  red)  and  black  and  white  and  orange 
and  purple  and  brown,  harmonize,  but  better  without 
the  purple. 

Blue  and  crimson  (or  scarlet)  and  orange  (or  gold)  and  black 
and  white  and  purple  and  yellow. 

Harmonious  combinations  of  eight  colors  : 

Blue  and  scarlet  (or  red)  and  green  and  orange  and  black 
and  yellow  and  purple  and  white. 

Blue  and  crimson  and  yellow  and  black  and  brown  and  orange 
and  green  and  white. 

Blue  and  crimson  and  yellow  and  black  and  a  little  green  and 
orange  and,  white  and  purple. 

Blue  and  crimson  and  yellow  and  black  and  chestnut  and 
orange  and  white  and  purple. 

Blue  and  crimson  and  yellow  and  black  and  chestnut  and 
scarlet  and  orange  and  purple. 

Blue  and  crimson  and  yellow  and  black  and  white  and  brown 
and  orange  and  purple. 

Blue  and  crimson  and  yellow  and  white  and  black  and  purple 
and  scarlet  and  brown. 

Blue  and  scarlet  and  yellow  and  black  and  white  and  brown 
and  orange  and  purple. 


TT  ATMVfONY  AND  DISCOED  OF  COLOES.  187 


Blue  and  scarlet  and  yellow  and  brown  and  black  and  white 
and  orange  and  green. 

Purple  and  orange  and  a  little  green  and  scarlet  and  blue 
and  black  and  white. 

It  has  not  been  thought  necessary  to  men¬ 
tion  the  combinations  with  drab,  fawn,  and 
stone-color,  or  with  all  the  hues  and  tones  of 
the  primaries  and  secondaries.  Some  of  the 
former  are  better  suited  for  grounds  than  for 
any  marked  position  in  colored  composition. 
As  has  been  before  remarked,  the  proper  pro¬ 
portions  of  the  colors  are  indispensable.  To 
be  all  of  the  same  quantity  would  be  fatal  to 
them,  as  some  are  required  to  be  in  larger, 
and  others  in  smaller  proportions  to  them ; 
as  when  red  and  blue  and  yellow  are  put 
together,  the  same  quantity  of  yellow  as  of 
blue  and  red  would  be  disagreeable;  but  it 
is  difficult  to  determine  the  exact  quan¬ 
tity. 

It  may  be  laid  down  as  a  general  rule, 
when  blue  and  red  and  yellow  are  put  together 
that  the  greatest  quantity  should  be  blue,  then 
red,  then  yellow.  In  all  cases  when  green  is 


188 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


used,  it  should  he  bright  and  of  smaller  pro¬ 
portions  than  the  other  colors. 

In  closing  this  chapter  on  the  harmonies 
of  colors,  the  writer  would  again  call  attention 
to  the  fact  that  no  theory  can  teach  the  proper 
combinations  and  proportions  of  colors  for 
ornamental  decoration.  The  eye  is  the  proper 
judge  of  colors  and  the  perception  of  color  is 
a  natural  gift.  This  may  be  improved  by 
study  but  cannot  be  acquired.  Those  having 
the  charge  of  our  common  schools  can  do  more 
to  disseminate  taste  through  the  country  and 
encourage  the  various  branches  of  ornamental 
art,  than  all  the  rest  of  the  people  combined. 
The  community  will  not  have  a  feeling  for 
art  of  any  kind,  until  the  study  becomes  gen¬ 
eral  ;  and  the  minds  of  those  who  make,  as 
well  as  of  those  who  use,  must  be  imbued  with 
a  true  perception  of  the  beautiful. 

The  walls  and  ceilings  of  our  public  school¬ 
rooms  should  present  the  best  examples  of 
colored  ornamentation  which  the  skill  of  our 
country  can  produce.  It  is  absolutely  neces- 


IIAEMONY  AND  DISCOED  OF  COLOES.  189 


sary  that  all  should  have  the  eye  and  mind 
directed  to  the  perception  of  what  is  good,  for 
it  is  not  enough  that  good  taste  he  possessed 
by  the  few,  while  the  community  generally 
continues  to  he  unconscious  of  its  beneficent 
influence.  For  taste  to  last  and  become  gen¬ 
eral,  its  rise  and  progress  must  be  simple  and 
gradual.  It  must  be  sown  and  reared,  and 
will  never  flourish  by  mere  transplanting. 

Begin  at  the  beginning !  Commence  the 
education  of  the  perceptive  faculties  by  good 
examples,  at  the  same  moment  that  you  com¬ 
mence  by  precept  to  instill  into  the  youthful 
mind  the  simplest  rudiments  of  a  common- 
school  education.  It  cannot  be  doubted  that 
there  are  in  our  common  schools  thousands  of 
children  who  possess  the  natural  gift  of  the 
perception  of  color  in  an  extraordinary  degree. 
But  how  shall  this  genius  (so  to  speak)  become 
valuable  to  the  possessor,  or  to  the  communi¬ 
ty,  unless  some  means  are  taken  to  educate, 
and  develop,  and  direct  it?  Let  those  who 
have  special  charge  of  the  education  of  our 


190 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


children  be  impressed  with  the  fact  that  the 
employment  of  the  very  best  Italian  artists,  in 
the  decorative  ornamentation  of  our  common- 
school  rooms  with  colored  designs,  would  be  a 
most  economical  expenditure  of  money,  and 
would  do  more  toward  the  general  diffusion 
of  taste  throughout  the  country  than  all  the 
other  influences  combined  could  effect. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


CONSUMPTION  OF  PAINT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Ho  attempt,  it  is  believed,  lias  been  made 
before  tins,  to  estimate  tbe  total  yearly  con¬ 
sumption  of  paint  in  this  country.  That  we 
consume  vastly  more  than  any  other  people, 
will  not  be  questioned.  The  painting  of 
houses  in  the  six  Hew  England  States  requires 
probably  more  material  than  is  used  for  that 
purpose  in  all  Great  Britain.  This  statement 
may  seem  exaggerated,  but  the  probable  cor¬ 
rectness  of  it  will  appear  when. consideration 
is  had  of  the  large  proportion  of  wooden 
houses  which  require  painting  and  constant 
repainting  ;  of  the  general  use  of  soft  wood  in 
our  houses,  out-buildings,  and  fences  ;  and  of 
the  passion  of  our  people  for  freshly-painted 
apartments,  and  bright,  cheerful  exteriors.  If 


192 


HOtTSE-PAINTmG. 


any  fondness  for  antiquated,  time-stained  edi¬ 
fices  exists  among  us,  it  lias  up  to  tliis  re¬ 
mained  dormant.  Possibly  there  may  be 
latent  somewhere  a  veneration  for  such  ob¬ 
jects,  but  our  eagerness  in  the  race  of  life 
has  not  afforded  time  for  its  development. 
Rejuvenation,  rather,  is  the  rule  ;  for,  when  a 
building  cannot  be  made  young  again  by 
alterations  and  modern  adaptations,  the  work 
of  demolition  proceeds,  and  almost  as  by  ma¬ 
gic  the  old  gives  place  to  a  new  structure, 
which,  in  its  architectural  proportions  and  or¬ 
namentation,  exhibits  the  prevailing  taste  of 
the  day,  and  which  includes  in  its  internal 
arrangements  all  the  conveniences  which  an 
inventive  people  have  been  able  to  devise.  • 
Old  New  York  has  been  almost  entirely 
rebuilt  within  the  present  generation ;  and 
many  young  New-Yorkers  have  witnessed  the 
erection  and  demolition  of  houses  which  were 
considered,  in  their  day,  models  in  the  way  of 
architectural  design  and  finish,  and  the  erec¬ 
tion  in  their  places  of  still  more  elegant  and 


CONSUMPTION  OF  PAINT. 


193 


costly  structures.  This  constant  tearing  down 
and  building  up  very  materially  increases  the 
consumption  of  paint.  Atmospheric  influ¬ 
ences,  too,  are  more  active  in  hastening  the 
decay  of  paint  in  this  than  in  countries  which 
are  not  liable  to  the  same  extremes  of  heat 
and  cold,  of  dryness  and  dampness.  Our 
bright  summer  sun  destroys  the  water-proof 
property  of  the  oil,  and  the  fierce  storms  of 
winter  wash  away  the  coating  which  has 
become  disintegrated  by  the  burning  sun¬ 
shine. 

It  is  not  claimed  that  the  figures  here  given 
are  strictly  correct.  In  some  cases  they  are 
only  approximately  so,  as  for  instance  in  the 
matter  of  ochrey  earths.  Many  substances  of 
this  nature  are  used  as  paints,  which  are  quite 
unknown  outside  the  locality  where  they  occur, 
and  which  have,  consequently,  only  a  local 
consumption.  So,  too,  in  a  measure  with 
chemically-prepared  colored  pigments.  These 
are  manufactured  at  so  many  places,  and  the 
quantities  produced  by  the  different  manu- 


194 


nOUSE-PAINTBSTG. 


facturers  vary  so  much,  that  no  reliable  data 
can  he  obtained. 

The  total  product  of  the  different  manu¬ 
factures  of  white  lead  and  zinc  can  be  arrived 
at  with  satisfactory  exactness,  as  can  the 
amount  of  those  articles  which  are  entered  for 
consumption  at  the  custom-houses. 

For  convenience,  the  figures  are  given  in 
round  numbers,  and  may,  consequently,  in 
some  instances,  exceed  the  amount  actually 
consumed  or  produced  ;  hut,  as  in  other  cases 
the  figures  will  fall  short  of  the  amount,  the 
total  will  be  in  the  main  correct  and  reliable. 

The  total  domestic  product  of  white  lead  for 

1867  was  not  far  short  of  eighteen  thou-  lbs. 

sand  tons,  equal  to .  36,000,000 

The  quantity  of  imported  white  lead,  both  dry 
and  ground  in  oil,  was  about  three  thou¬ 
sand  tons,  equal  to .  6,000,000 

Of  white  zinc,  the  home  production  was  seven 

thousand  five  hundred  tons,  equal  to  .  15,000,000 

Of  sulphate  of  baryta,  which  is  almost  wholly 
consumed  in  the  cheapening  of  white  lead 
and  zinc,  and  as  the  base  of  colored  pig¬ 
ments,  twelve  thousand  tons,  equal  to  .  24,000,000 

Of  yellow  ochres  imported  from  France,  three 
thousand  casks,  about  one  thousand  tons, 
equal  to 


2,000,000 


CONSUMPTION  OF  PAINT. 


195 


Of  yellow  ochres  and  other  earth-paints  of  home 
production,  one  thousand  five  hundred  tons, 

equal  to .  3,000,000 

Of  Venetian  red,  imported  from  England,  seven 
thousand  barrels,  or  one  thousand  tons, 

equal  to .  2,000,000 

Of  colored  pigments,  including  those  imported, 
and  including  white  zinc  imported,  say  four 
thousand  tons,  equal  to  ...  8,000,000 

Of  whiting  and  Paris  white,  most  of  which  is 
consumed  as  paint,  eighty  thousand  barrels, 
equal  to .  30,000,000 

Making  a  total  of  .  .  .  .  126,000,000 

The  proportion  of  these  paints  used  in 
water  is  inconsiderable  when  compared  with 
the  amount  consumed  as  oil-paint. 

The  quantity  of  linseed  imported  during  the 
year  1867  was  about  two  millions  of  bushels, 
which  would  produce  four  millions  of  gallons 
of  oil,  equal  to  thirty  millions  of  pounds.  The 
domestic  crop  of  flax-seed  is  estimated  at  two 
millions  of  bushels,  equal  to  four  millions  of 
gallons  of  oil,  or  thirty  millions  of  pounds. 
The  quantity  of  linseed-oil  imported  was  one- 
quarter  of  a  million  gallons,  equal  to  one  mil¬ 
lion  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pounds. 


196 


HOUSE-PAINTINO. 


Making  a  total  of  four  and  one-quarter  millions 
of  gallons  of  oil  as  the  year’s  consumption. 

Of  this  quantity,  it  will  he  proper  to  de¬ 
duct  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand 
gallons  as  having  been  consumed  by  varnish- 
makers,  and  in  the  manufacture  of  printer’s 
ink  say  eighty  thousand  gallons,  making  a 
total  of  three  hundred  and  sixty  thousand 
gallons. 

Supposing  the  stock  of  linseed  and  oil  on 
hand  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1868  did 
not  exceed  the  stock  on  hand  at  a  correspond¬ 
ing  period  of  the  previous  year,  the  above 
figures  show  a  consumption  of  nearly  four 
millions  of  gallons  used  for  painting  purposes. 
The  weight  of  this  quantity  of  oil,  added  to 
the  weight  of  the  paints,  gives  the  enormous 
total  of  more  than  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
four  millions  of  pounds  of  mixed  paint  con¬ 
sumed  in  a  single  year  ! 

A  fair  estimate  per  pound  of  the  money- 
value  of  this  paint  when  prepared  for  use, 
would  be  twelve  cents  per  pound,  equal  to 


CON  SUMPTION  OF  PAINT. 


197 


twenty  millions  of  dollars.  It  is  estimated 
that  the  cost  of  labor,  at  present  prices,  in  the 
various  departments  of  plain  and  decorative 
house-painting,  in  comparison  to  the  cost  of 
materials,  is  as  two  to  one.  Supposing  this  to 
be  a  correct  estimate,  the  money-value  of  the 
labor  required  to  consume  the  given  amount 
of  paint  would  be  forty  millions  of  dollars : 
showing  a  total  of  sixty  millions  of  dollars  ex¬ 
pended  in  painting  our  houses ;  and  that,  too, 
at  a  time  when  the  demand  for  paint  through¬ 
out  a  large  portion  of  the  country,  owing  to 
its  impoverished  condition  resulting  from  the 
late  war,  has  almost  ceased. 

The  export  of  paint,  owing  to  the  uncer¬ 
tain  value  of  our  currency,  and  the  high  prices 
of  labor  and  material  which  have  prevailed 
during  the  last  three  or  four  years,  is  incon¬ 
siderable.  Formerly  the  West  Indies  and  the 
Central  American  markets  were  supplied  from 
this  country,  but  the  trade  has  now  fallen 
mostly  into  the  hands  of  the  English  manu¬ 
facturers. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


WEIGHT  OF  PAINT  AND  -  MEASURE  OF  OIL  RE¬ 
QUIRED  TO  COVER  A  GIVEN  NUMBER  OF 
SUPERFICIAL  FEET  OF  WOOD  OR  BRICK. 

The  figures  given  below  are  the  result  of 
careful  and  repeated  experiments,  made  under 
the  direct  supervision  of  tbe  writer.  The 
wood  used  was  ordinary  machine-planed  piue 
ceiling-boards  of  an  average  width  of  nine 
inches.  Each  succeeding  coat  was  applied 
without  rubbing  the  previous  coat  with  sand¬ 
paper. 

The  paints  were,  in  all  cases,  free  from  any 
admixture  of  adulterating  materials,  and  were 
of  the  best  quality.  Ho  rule  can  be  given  as 
to  the  exact  quantity  of  oil  required  to  reduce 
white  lead  or  other  -paints  to  the  proper  con¬ 
sistency,  under  all  circumstances,  and  for  all 


WEIGHT  OF  PAINT,  ETC. 


199 


kinds  of  work.  A  rough  surface  requires  not 
only  an  increased  quantity  of  paint,  but  an 
increased  quantity  of  oil  in  proportion  to  the 
paint.  The  temperature  of  the  atmosphere,  too, 
affects  the  result ;  for  although  linseed-oil  does 
not  congeal  except  at  very  low  temperature, 
it  becomes  less  fluid  as  it  loses  heat,  and  con¬ 
sequently  a  greater  proportion  of  oil  is  re¬ 
quired  in  cold  than  in  warm  weather.  Allow¬ 
ance  must  be  made  also  for  waste  of  material. 
A  wooden  package  supposed  to  contain  one 
hundred  pounds  of  white  lead  will  not  afford 
a  hundred  pounds  of  mixed  or  thinned  paint, 
minus  the  oil,  for  the  reason  that  a  portion  of 
the  oil  in  which  the  lead  was  ground  will 
have  been  absorbed  by  the  surrounding  wood, 
and  a  portion  of  the  lead  will  in  consequence 
have  become  hard  and  unfit  for  use. 

The  amount  of  material  thus  wasted  will 
depend  almost  wholly  on  the  lapse  of  time  ere 
the  material  shall  reach  the  hand  of  the  con¬ 
sumer. 

The  smaller  the  package  the  greater  will  be 


200 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


the  proportionate  loss.  On  one-hundred-pound 
kegs  it  will  he  from  three  to  four  per  cent.  To 
paint  one  square  yard  of  the  surface  of  wood, 
as  before  described,  requires,  for  first  coat,  four 
ounces  of  pure’  white  lead  mixed  with  oil,  in 
the  proportion  of  seven  ounces  of  oil  to  one 
pound  of  lead.  Accordingly,  to  cover  a  sur¬ 
face  comprising  one  hundred  square  yards, 
would  consume  twenty-five  pounds  of  mixed 
(white-lead)  paint,  which  mixture  would  con¬ 
sist  of  about  seventeen  and  one-half  pounds 
of  ground  white  lead  and  seven  and  one-half 
pounds  of  oil,  which  is  the  exact  weight  of  a 
gallon.  Thus,  one  hundred  pounds  of  ground 
white  lead  with  forty-three  pounds  of  oil  will 
give  a  single  coating  to  five  hundred  and 
seventy-two  square  yards  of  surface  of  mod¬ 
erately  seasoned  pine-wood.  "When  the  un¬ 
painted  surface  lias  become  very  dry  and 
absorbent  from  long  exposure  to  the  weather, 
allowance  must  be  made  therefor.  For  a 
second  coating,  which  should  not,  as  a  rule,  be 
applied  until  after  a  lapse  of  six  or  eight  days, 


WEIGHT  OF  PAINT,  ETC. 


201 


the  proportion  of  oil  to  the  lead  should  he 
considerably  less  than  for  the  priming  coat, 
say  at  least  ten  per  cent.,  or  in  the  proportion 
of  five  gallons  of  oil  to  one  hundred  pounds 
of  ground  white  lead.  This  mixture  would 
give  a  coating  to  about  six  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  yards  of  surface  which  had  been  once 
painted.  Great  care  must  be  observed  in  ap¬ 
plying  the  second  and  succeeding  coats,  that 
the  paint  be  not  too  thin ;  particularly  when 
the  temperature  is  liable  to  become  materially 
lower  during  the  night.  Otherwise  the  sur¬ 
face  is  liable  to  wrinkle,  crawl,  creep,  as 
painters  variously  express  it. 

The  foregoing  observations  as  to  quantity, 
etc.,  will  apply  to  any  number  of  succeeding 
coatings. 

The  sum  of  the  foregoing  is,  that  one  hun¬ 
dred  pounds  of  pure  ground  white  lead,  with 
the  oil  required  to  thin  it,  will  give  three 
coatings  to  two  hundred  square  yards  of  or¬ 
dinary  pine-wood  surface. 

Where  white  zinc  is  used  in  place  of  white 


202 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


lead,  tlie  proportions  and  quantities  materially 
differ. 

To  make  a  paint  of  dry  white  lead  of  the 
proper  consistency  to  spread  with  a  paint¬ 
brush,  requires  about  one -half  its  weight  of 
linseed-oil ;  while  zinc,  under  the  same  condi¬ 
tions,  requires  nearly  its  weight  in  oil ;  hence 
it  follows,  that  a  very  much  smaller  quantity 
of  the  latter  oxide  will  be  consumed  in  coat¬ 
ing  a  given  surface,  than  of  the  former. 

As  has  been  stated  before,  one  hundred 
pounds  of  lead,  with  the  requisite  proportion 
of  oil,  will  cover  a  surface  of  about  five  hun¬ 
dred  and  seventy-two  square  yards  of  new 
wood.  The  same  quantity  of  white  zinc,  that 
is  to  say,  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  of  zinc 
paint  of  the  proper  consistency  for  first-coat¬ 
ing  new  wood,  will  cover  about  eight  hundred 
square  yards.  The  lead-coating,  however, 
owing  to  its  greater  opacity,  will  better  con¬ 
ceal  the  wood  and  give  a  more  uniform  sur¬ 
face  than  will  the  zinc  paint.  The  cost  of 
labor  in  applying  the  zinc,  too,  will  be  greater 


WEIGH.T  OF  PAINT,  ETC. 


203 


than  the  cost  of  applying  the  lead;  so  that, 
economically  considered,  there  is  not  so  great 
a  difference  in  favor  of  the  zinc  as  would  at 
first  sight  appear. 

(For  the  writer’s  views  as  to  the  compara¬ 
tive  merits  of  these  two  most  important  pig¬ 
ments,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Chapter  VIII. 
under  the  heading  of  White  Pigments.) 

Finely-ground  French  yellow  ochre-dry 
requires  oil  in  the  proportion  of  about  five 
ounces  to  two ;  that  is,  the  proportion  of  oil 
by  weight  will  be  about  five-sevenths  of  the 
mixed  paint.  One  pound  of  this  mixture  will 
cover  a  surface  of  eight  yards  of  new  pine- 
wood,  and  the  cost,  in  comparison  with  white 
lead,  is  about  as  five  to  ten,  while  in  point  of 
durability  the  difference  in  favor  of  the  ochre 
substance  will  be  much  greater.  On  tin  roofs, 
for  instance,  or  other  exposed  situations,  the 
ochre-paint  would  remain  intact,  when  the 
white  lead  would  have  almost  entirely  disap¬ 
peared. 

Lamp-black  requires  more  oil,  in  propor- 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


204 

tion,  than  any  substance  used  in  painting. 
One  pound  of  pure  black  requires  about  two 
gallons  of  oil  to  make  it  of  proper  consistency 
for  the  painting  of  new  wood.  One  pound 
of  this  mixture  will  cover  about  nine  square 
yards  of  surface,  and  for  second  coating  about 
sixteen  square  yards a  single  ounce  only 
being  required  to  cover  one  square  yard. 

When  spirits  of  turpentine  is  used,  in¬ 
stead  of  linseed-oil,  for  thinning  lead  or  zinc, 
as  is  the  case  in  most  interior  work,  the  pro¬ 
portions  differ  very  materially ;  as  has  been 
shown  before,  ground  white  lead  requires,  to 
thin  to  the  proper  consistency  for  painting 
surfaces  which  have  been  already  painted,  oil, 
in  proportion  of  about  forty  pounds  of  the 
latter  to  one  hundred  pounds  of  the  former. 
When  turpentine  is  used,  the  proportions  are 
about  as  one  of  the  fluid  to  eight  of  the 
lead  ground  in  linseed-oil.  The  quantity  by 
weight  of  the  latter  mixture  required  to  cover 
a  given  surface  is  about  the  same  as  of  the 
oil  paint,  but  the  quantity  of  lead  expended 


WEIGHT  OF  PAINT,  ETC. 


205 


is  nrucli  greater,  of  course,  in  proportion  to 
the  fluid. 

ShmmapvY. — One  hundred  pounds  of  pure 
white  lead  ground  in  oil  require,  to  thin  to 
a  proper  consistency  for  painting  first  coat, 
on  new  or  unpainted  pine-wood,  about  six 
gallons  of  linseed-oil  at  ordinary  temperature. 

One  hundred  pounds  of  pure  white  lead 
require,  for  painting  a  second  and  succeeding 
coats,  about  five  gallons  of  linseed-oil. 

One  hundred  pounds  of  pure  American 
white  zinc  ground  in  oil  require,  to  thin  to 
proper  consistency  for  first-coating  or  priming 
new  pine-wood,  about  ten  gallons  of  linseed-oil. 

One  hundred  pounds  of'  zinc  as  above, 
ground  in  oil,  require,  to  thin  for  second- 
coating,  about  seven  gallons  of  linseed-oil. 

One  hundred  pounds  of  dry  finest  French 
yellow  ochre  require  about  twice  its  weight 
in  oil  (rather  more  than  less),  or  about  twenty- 
seven  gallons  of  linseed-oil  to  one  hundred 
pounds  of  the  dry  material.  No  reliable  figures 
can  be  given  for  the  thinning  of  yellow  ochres 


200 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


and  other  earth-paints  ground  in  oil,  for  the 
reason  that  ninety  per  cent,  of  such  paints, 
when  put  on  the  market  as  “  ground  colors ,” 
is  very  much  adulterated  with  sulphate  of 
baryta,  which  substance  requires  only  about 
one  gallon  of  oil  to  wet  one  hundred  pounds 
of  it. 

Pure  White  Lead. — One  pound  of  pure 
white-lead  paint,  made  in  the  proportions  as 
before  given,  will  cover  an  unpainted  pine- 
wood  surface  of  about  four  square  yards 
(rather  more  than  less).  For  second  and  suc¬ 
ceeding  coatings  the  same  work  will  require 
less  than  for  first  or  priming-coat,  and  it  is 
safe  to  say  that  one  pound  of  pure  white-lead 
paint  will  give  four  coatings  to  one  square 
yard  of  pine-wood  surface.  ( See  remarks  as 
to  loss  by  absorption,  waste,  etc.) 

One  hundred  pounds  of  pure  white-lead 
paint  will  cover  a  surface  of  four  hundred 
square  yards  of  common  machine-planed  pine- 
wood  such  as  is  used  for  out-door  finish. 

Puke  Zinc  White. — One  pound  of  pure 


WEIGHT  OF  PAINT,  ETC.  207 

wliite  zinc  paint,  mixed  in  the  proportions  be¬ 
fore  given,  will  cover  a  surface  of  unpainted 
pine-wood  of  more  than  five  square  yards,  say 
five  and  one-third.  For  second  and  succeeding 
coats  of  same  work  the  quantity  required  is 
about  eight  per  cent,  less,  so  that  one  hundred 
pounds  of  pure  zinc  paint  may  safely  be  es¬ 
timated  to  cover  five  hundred  and  fifty  yards 
of  wood  surface  which  has  been  already 
painted. 

Yellow  Ochre. — -One  pound  of  pure  yellow 
ochre  paint,  mixed  in  the  proportions  before 
named,  will  give  a  first  or  primary  coating  to 
eight  square  yards  of  ordinary  pine-wood  sur 
face.  These  proportions  will  apply  to  the 
painting  of  tin  roofs,  but  for  such  work  the 
proportion  of  oil  must  be  less  than  for  wood. 

Venetian  Fed. — One  pound  of  pure  Ve¬ 
netian  red  will  give  a  priming-coat  to  about 
seven  square  yards  of  pine-wood  surface,  and 
a  second  coating  to  about  eight  square  yards. 
The  proportion  of  oil  is  somewhat  less  than 
for  yellow  ochre.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind, 


208 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


that  in  earth-paints  the  purer  the  material,  the 
greater  will  he  the  quantity  of  oil  required 
to  thin  the  same  to  a  proper  consistency  for 
spreading  with  a  paint-brash. 

Lamp  Black,  ok  Carbon  Black. — One 
pound  of  pure  carbon  black  will  cover  a  sur¬ 
face  of  painted  pine-wood  of  sixteen  square 
yards,  and  this  surface,  when  not  subject  to 
abrasion  from  mechanical  force  or  other  acci¬ 
dent,  would  remain  intact  for  a  century. 

For  Painting  Brick-Work. — The  experi¬ 
ments  in  this  case  were  made  on  a  surface  of 
common  hard  rough  bricks,  laid  in  brown 
mortar  with  wide  joints,  out  of  doors,  in  win¬ 
ter,  the  atmosphere  at  a  freezing  temperature, 
and  with  the  following  results : 

Of  pure  white  lead,  thinned  with  oil  to 
the  same  consistency  as  for  the  first  coating  of 
wood-work,  one  square  yard  of  rough  brick 
surface  requires  about  one  half-pound  of  paint 
and  but  little  less  for  second  coat.  A  thud 
coat,  however,  requires  considerably  less,  and 
it  will  be  safe  to  estimate  the  quantity  neces- 


209 


WEIGHT  OF  PAINT,  ETC. 

sary  to  give  such  work  three  coats,  at  one  and 
one-quarter  pounds. 

Fo r  painting  a  surface  of  smooth-pressed 
bricks  laid  up  with  close  joints,  the  quantity 
required  for  a  given  surface  will  he  a  little 
more  than  for  painting  new  pine-wood. 

Except  in  cases  where  white  or  very  light 
tints  are  required,  it  is  not  advisable  to  use 
white  lead  paint  for  rough  brick-work.  The 
ochres,  when  the  same  can  be  either  wholly  or 
partially  substituted  for  lead,  will  be  found 
much  more  economical  and  more  desirable. 

Of  Puke  "White  Zinc. — One  square  yard 
of  rough  brick-work  requires,  for  a  first  coat¬ 
ing,  about  six  ounces  of  thinned  paint,  or  three 
pounds  for  eight  yards.  For  second  coating 
the  quantity  required  is  only  about  four  and 
three-quarter  ounces,  and  for  a  third  coat 
about  four  ounces,  showing  a  consumption  for 
three  coats  of  about  fifteen  ounces.  So,  one 
hundred  pounds  of  mixed  zinc  paint  will  give 
three  coats  to  more  than  one  hundred  square 
yards  of  rough  brick  surface. 


210 


HOUSE-PAINTING . 


Oe  Pure  French  Yellow  Ochre,  the 
quantity  required  to  give  a  first  coat  to  one 
square  yard  of  rough  hrick  surface  is  about 
the  same  as  for  zinc  paint,  that  is,  about  sis 
ounces ;  hut  for  second  coat  the  quantity  re¬ 
quired  is  only  about  three  and  one-quarter 
ounces,  and  for  third  coat  about  three  ounces, 
showing  a  consumption  of  about  three-quar¬ 
ters  of  a  pound  for  three  coats  to  the  square 
yard,  or  for  one  hundred  yards  say  seventy- 
five  pounds  of  pure  yellow  ochre  paint. 

Of  Pure  Venetian  Red,  for  such  work 
the  quantities  are  about  the  same  as  yellow 
ochre,  and  the  figures  given  for  that  pigment 
will  serve  for  this. 

In  painting  brick-work  good  results  are 
possible  only  under  certain  conditions. 

This  kind  of  painting  should  be  done  in 
dry  warm  weather,  when  the  moisture  which 
bricks  absorb  from  the  atmosphere  during  the 
winter  and  spring  seasons  shall  have  dried 
out ;  otherwise,  the  paint  will  not  adhere  te¬ 
naciously  and  will  be  apt  to  scale  off.  In  ex- 


WEIGHT  OF  PAINT,  ETC. 


211 


terior  liouse-painting  it  is  of  very  great  im¬ 
portance  that  the  work  be  dry  when  the  paint 
is  applied. 

The  reader  will  hear  in  mind  the  fact,  that 
while  the  figures  for  the  quantities  of  the  va¬ 
rious  pigments  required  to  cover  a  given  sur¬ 
face  are,  abstractly  considered,  correct,  they 
being  the  result  of  recent  and  carefully-con¬ 
ducted  experiments  (the  figures  being  rounded 
to  avoid  the  confusion  which  might  ensue  by 
extending  them  to  the  exact  number  of  grains 
of  material  actually  consumed  on  the  various 
trials),  there  are  modifying  circumstances 
which  must  in  the  nature  of  things  change  the 
result  when  the  figures  are  tested  on  a  more 
extended  scale. 

A  wooden  keg,  nominally  containing  twen¬ 
ty-five  pounds  of  white  lead  or  other  paint, 
really  contains  but  about  twenty-three  pounds 
of  material,  the  weight  of  the  package  being 
included.  There  will  be,  from  absorption  and 
consequent  hardening  of  the  paint,  an  average 
loss  of  at  least  one  pound  of  the  contents  of 


212 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


tlie  package,  so  that  only  about  twenty-two 
pounds  will  be  realized,  showing  a  difference 
between  the  nominal  and  the  actual  contents 
of  the  package  of  about  twelve  per  cent. 

The  experiments,  too,  were  made  in  every 
instance  with  the  very  best  and  purest  mate¬ 
rials,  and  under  most  favorable  circumstances, 
and  the  same  results  must  not  be  looked  for 
when  the  pigments  are  inferior  in  quality  and 
possess  far  less  intrinsic  value. 

With  an  apology  for  the  repetition,  the 
writer  would  again  remark  that  good  results 
in  painting  can  only  come  from  the  use  of 
good  mcdericds. 

It  may  interest  the  general  reader  to 
know  that  unsophisticated  pigments  are  the 
exception  and  not  the  rule ;  that  hundreds  of 
tons  of  so-called  white  lead  are  annually 
sold  in  the  United  States  wherein  the  highest 
chemical  skill  would  be  unable  to  detect  a 
grain  of  the  material,  under  the  name  of 
wdiich  this  fictitious  article  is  sold. 

Many  of  the  materials  Gold  under  various 


WEIGHT  OF  PAINT,  ETC. 


213 


names  and  recommended  for  use  in  painting 
are  in  tlieir  nature  totally  unsuited  for  such 
purpose,  being  semi-transparent,  and  conse¬ 
quently  wanting  the  property  without  which 
no  pigment  is  valuable  or  economical  for  ordi¬ 
nary  exterior  house-painting ;  they  are,  too, 
coarse,  gritty,  and  sandy,  which  renders  the 
spreading  of  them,  evenly,  a  task  not  easy  of 
accomplishment.  In  hue,  and  tone  of  color, 
they  are  disagreeable  and  unpleasant.  A 
dingy,  chocolate-colored  exterior  is  not  in  har¬ 
mony  with  any  landscape.  Ho  matter  what 
the  character  of  the  structure  may  be — 
whether  it  be  isolated  or  attached  to  other 
buildings — whether  it  be  a  corn-crib  or  a  cow¬ 
house,  if  the  same  be  worth  painting  at  all,  it 
is  worth  painting  with  some  regard  for  the 
laws  of  harmony  and  the  “  fitness  of  things.” 

Every  house,  barn,  out-building,  or  fence, 
becomes  when  painted  a  more  conspicuous 
object  in  the  landscape  than  it  otherwise 
would  be ;  and  the  cost  of  painting  the  same 
in  conformity  with  the  laws  of  harmonious 


214 


HOUSE-PAINTING. 


arrangement  and  proper  adaptation  to  the  sur¬ 
roundings  is  lio  greater  than  to  paint  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  set  all  these  laws  at  defiance. 

For  example  :  the  surroundings  of  most 
country-houses  reflect  to  the  eye  the  various 
hues  of  green.  ISTow,  red-brown  and  green  in 
juxtaposition  produce  horrible  discord.  A 
yellow  partaking  of  the  orange  hue,  on  the 
contrary,  makes  agreeable  harmony.  Ited- 
browns  and  chocolate  colors  are  altogether 
unsuited  to  the  painting  of  country-houses. 
They  are  out  of  place  in  a  landscape  and  can¬ 
not  be  made  to  harmonize  with  the  surround¬ 
ings.  Some  tone  of  yellow  is  preferable,  par¬ 
ticularly  when  the  house  has  green  blinds 
attached  to  the  windows.  It  is  not  good  taste, 
however,  to  use  white  for  the  trimmings,  win¬ 
dow-frames,  cornices,  etc.,  with  yellow  ;  white 
and  yellow  are  poor  and  feeble  and  are  want¬ 
ing  by  analogy.  The  yellow  loses  by  the  con¬ 
nection  ;  a  rich  shade  of  brown  (not  red-brown) 
is  proper  for  trimmings,  in  contrast  with 
yellow,  and  makes  very  pleasing  harmony. 


WEIGHT  OF  PAINT,  ETC. 


215 


Bright-green  blinds  also  are  more  agreeable 
with  yellow  than  with  any  other  color,  which 
would  he  suitable  for  painting  the  exterior  of 
a  country-house.  Next  to  yellow,  the  yellow- 
drabs  and  stone-colors  are  recommended. 

No  rule  can  he  given  which  will  serve  as 
a  guide  in  such  matters,  for  the  reason  that 
what  might  he  very  proper  and  suitable  under 
certain  conditions,  would  be  unsuitable  and 
improper  under  other  circumstances;  and  it  is 
far  more  easy  to  point  out  Avhat  to  avoid  than 
what  to  adopt.  When  buildings  are  grouped, 
yet  not  connected,  a  very  good  effect  may  be 
produced  by  painting  the  smaller  ones  of  a 
darker  shade  of  the  same  hue  as  the  principal 
or  prominent  building.  Uniformity  in  such 
cases  is  by  no  means  desirable,  except  when 
the  object  is  to  hide  or  diminish  the  lesser 
structures.  As  a  rule,  very  dark  colors  are  to 
be  avoided  in  painting  the  exterior  surfaces  of 
wooden  houses,  not  only  because  such  colors 
are  less  in  harmony  with  the  surroundings, 
but  for  the  reason  that  such  colors  do  not  pre- 


216 


HOUSE-PAEvTTNG. 


serve  the  wood  so  well  as  lighter  tints,  and 
so,  are  objectionable  on  the  score  of  economy. 

The  painting  of  a  .building,  however  poor 
and  mean  the  structure,  affords  some  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  a  display  of  taste  ;  and,  as  has  been 
before  remarked,  the  humblest  individual  may 
manifest  an  innate  perception  of  the  beautiful 
in  the  ornamentation  of  a  cottage  and  in  the 
poorest  materials. 

A  man  may  perform  the  mechanical  part 
in  the  operation  of  painting,  faultlessly,  and 
yet  he  entirely  wanting  in  the  faculty  to  ar¬ 
range  and  dispose  colors  in  harmonious  com¬ 
bination. 

Those  to  whom  we  intrust  such  work, 
should  possess  the  natural  gift  of  discriminat¬ 
ing  colors,  educated  by  good  examples,  and  he 
thoroughly  imbued  with  love  for  the  art. 


THE  EHD. 


BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 


MASURY  &  WHITON, 

111  Fulton  Street,  New  York, 

MANUFACTURERS  OF 

White  Lead, 

FRENCH  AND  AMERICAN  ZINC, 

AND 

batons. 


N.  B.- — Colors  prepared  and  put  up  in  patent  cans, 
with  special  reference  to  the  requirements  of  the  Trade. 


STORE, 


FACTORY, 


£6  Barclay  Street. 


£ 0  £2  Commerce  Street. 


H„  W3  CEAii  &  CO., 

(M.  KtiOEDLER,  C.  P.  Staab,  H.  W.  Gear.) 


l^i  E  W  V  O  K  K, 


IMPORTERS  AND  MANUFACTURERS  OF 


ARTISTS’  MATERIALS, 

MANUFACTURERS  OF  ARTISTS’ 


Tube  Colors,  Canvas,  Brushes,  etc., 

ALSO, 

gristle  Varnish  Inrushes, 

Sachtools, 

Stencil  and 

draining  T, rushes , 

AND  ALL  JvINDS  OF 

Camel  Hair,  Bear  Hair,  Fitch,  Badger,  and  Sable  Brashes. 
Full  Supply  of  Winsor  &  IVewton’s  Materials. 

OILS  AND  WATER  COLORS,  ETC., 

"Wax  Sheets,  and  Materials  for  Wax  Flowers. 

Our  Artists’  Colors  are  prepared  with  great  care,  and  the  following  tes¬ 
timonial  from  leading  artists  is  a  guarantee  of  their  superiority : 

New  York,  April  1st.  1807. 

We.  the  undersigned,  are  happy  to  say  that  we  have  used,  for  the  past 
two  years,  the  Artists’  Oil  Colors’ prepared  by  Messrs.  H.  W.  Gear  &  Co., 
which  give  qs  complete  satisfaction,  and  we  find  them  equal  to  any  imported, 
Frederick  E.  Cnup.cn,  C.  E.  Elliott, 

S.  R.  Gifford,  Regis  Gtgnoux, 

J.  F.  Ken-sett,  M.  F.  H.  de  Haas, 

James  M.  Hart,  W.  Whitteedge, 

Alanson  Fisher,  E.  Leutze, 


William  Hart, 


MCKESSON  &  ROBBINS, 

WHOLESALE  DRUGGISTS, 

91  and  93  Fulton  Street,  and  82  and  84  Ann  Street, 

Four  doors  below  William  Street,  N  E  W  lOB  K, 

Offer  lor  sale,  on  the  most  favorable  terms,  a  large  stock  of 

DRUGS  AND  MEDICINES, 

by  the  Package  or  in  smaller  quantities,  in  Bond  or  duty  paid ; 
also,  all  the  Staple  Foreign  and  Domestic 

Chamicals,  Extracts,  and  Medicinal  Preparations, 

embracing  the  manufactures  of  Herring,  Allen,  Hander  &  Co.,  and 
other  well-known  houses.  Also  a  compl  te  assortment  of 

DRUGGISTS’  SUNDRIES  &  DRUGGISTS’  RANGY  GOODS, 

Shop-Furniture,  Implements,  etc., 

Tooth,  Hair,  &  Nail  Brushes,  &  Toil  t  Articles. 

Also  all  the  principal  favorite  Foreign  and  Domestic 

PERFUMERIES,  COSMETIZES,  SOAPS,  ETC., 

of  their  own  direct  importation. 

Circulars  will  he  sent  by  mail  on  application,  and  all  orders  in¬ 
trusted  to  our  care  will  be  carefully  and  promptly  filled  at  the  low¬ 
est  market  rates. 


ESTABLISHED  1827. 


SMITH  * 

^  Late  SMITH  &  STRATTON, 


J&anufacturers  of 


VARNISHES, 


No.  160  Wil  iam  Street, 

NEW  YORK. 


TRADE  MARK. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  styles  we  manufacture : 
Coach  Varnish.  No.  1  Furniture  Varnish. 


Coach  Body  do.  2  do.  do. 

Medium  do.  do.  Polishing  do. 

Wearing  do.  do.  Flowing  do. 

Rubbing  do.  do.  White  (Demar)  do. 

Carriage  do.  Black  (Asphalt)  do. 

Elastic  Carr’ge  do.  Brown  Japan. 


Finishing  do.  Black  Baking  do. 

We  invite  special  attention  to  our  Wearing  Body,  and  other 
Coach  Varnishes,  believing  them  to  be  equal,  if  not  superior,  in 
every  respect,  to  the  best  English,  or  any  other  Varnishes. 


HIGHEST  PREMIUM— A  SILVER  MEDAL, 

BY  THE 

AMERICAN  INSTITUTE. 


$$lHraifattam  unb  Importers 

OF  EVERY  DESCRIPTION  OF 


BRUSHES, 


JTez v  Yo~rJc. 

rA.OTOK.XES; 

New  York  City  and  Lansingburgh,  N.  Y, 

We  import,  and  have  constantly  on  hand,  every  de¬ 
scription  of  Brushes,  for  €?jHjr(XEIlB ,  jlll'XIBQ.'B,  and 
YjlJTGY  G-OOQS  QEjlLEIlB,  and  are  prepared  to 
fill  any  orders. 

Illustrated  Catalogue  furnished  on  application. 


JUDD 

mh  %frm 

COMPANY. 


Manufacturers  and  Importers  of 

Raw  and  Boiled  Mnseed  Oil, 

SPERM,  WHALE,  AND  OTHER  OILS, 

AND  AGENTS  LINDER  (H  R  OWN  BRAND  FOR  UNIFORM  GRAVITY 

NATURAL  LUBRICATING  OIL, 


Warranted 


Produced  from  the  Wells  in  Western  Virginia,  and  of  the  same 
density  as  Winter  Sperm  Oil,  and  warranted  the 
cheapest  Lubricator  in  existence. 

Sole  Snccessors  to  Samuel  Judd, 

SAML.  JUDD’S  SONS  &  CO.,  and  J.  &  L.  K.  BRIDGE. 

Established,  over  forty  years. 


. 


trmm  "  ’  ■  M. "  ' 


- 


fen- 

*§«  J*V  H 

. 


? 


33  1 3  s’C 


1 


GETTY  CENTER  LIBRARY 


3  3125  00799  3286 


